FBI Arrests Middlebury Fire Chief

(CBS Connecticut/AP) — Middlebury’s fire chief faces three counts of theft in a federal investigation.  The charges are federal because the department receives federal funds.   47-year-old Paul Perrotti was arrested at his home by FBI agents Thursday morning. In all, he’s charged with embezzling more than $70,000 from the fire department.

Perrotti is a licensed electrical contractor as well as chief of the volunteer department.  The indictment charges that, starting  about four years ago,  he used money from the fire department’s accounts to pay for personal expoenses and for expenses of his company, Paul Perrotti Electric.  In some cases the checks were paid directly to him or to the company.  Others were paid to vendors for suppliers of his company,   or for reimbursement of loans to Perrotti.

He’s also charged with submitting invoices to the town of Middlebury for expenses incurred by his company,  and with using a fire department credit card and a fire department debit card for personal and business expenses, including food, gasoline, and electrical supplies.

FBI agents raided the firehouse in May and seized computers and financial documents.

Perrotti has been chief of the volunteer department since 1997. He previously said that the FBI raid was a fishing expedition and the department spends about $6,000 on an independent auditor to review the books.