Casper Mountain Fire Protection District Board Member Resigns

The Casper Mountain Fire Protection District was under investigation into allegedly missing and/or misappropriated money, according to the Casper Police Department.

The Casper Mountain Fire Protection District is a particular district providing services to the area covering Casper Mountain and a margin around Casper Mountain. Its funding comes from property taxes collected from Casper Mountain residents.

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Andrew Schneider, who recently resigned from the district’s board, said he was appointed to fill a board vacancy last summer. However, he resigned from the Casper Mountain Fire Protection District Board over concerns about the alleged missing or misappropriated money prior to his time on the board.

The Natrona County Police Department started a criminal investigation in late March but closed the case in early April when the acting treasurer passed away.

The exact amount of money missing is unknown presently, but according to Schneider “it’s several thousand dollars a year.” The evidence only covers three years, but the treasurer served in that position for many years before record keeping began.

The information was shared with Schneider in an email in March, which he shared with k2news.

Note: the public can make records requests for all Casper Mountain Fire Protection District Board emails.

Schneider said, “It has been a privilege and an honor to serve our mountain community. I would consider running to be elected to the board in the future when the steps suggested by the investigating detective have been implemented and there are no sitting board members who served at the time the money appears to have gone missing.”

According to Schneider, the investigative detective on the case (Shannon Daly) suggested the District Board hire an accounting firm to review the books and/or close all the existing bank accounts and open new ones.

This story will be updated if more information becomes available.