Tag: Pennsylvania

bookmark_borderDeer Hunt at the Norristown Farm Park

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The Montgomery County Division of Parks, Trails and Historic Sites will conduct a one day,
controlled, antlerless deer hunt at the Norristown Farm Park on Wednesday, January 22, 2014 between the hours of 7:00am and 3:00pm.

This year’s hunt is a continuation of a wildlife management program that began in 2005. The goal of the program was, and is, to contain a burgeoning deer population, thus allowing the park’s varied habitat to regenerate for the benefit of both the park’s resident and transient wildlife. In 2005 the park’s deer herd was estimated at 300-500 animals. Since the inception of the hunt nearly eight years ago, significant strides have been made toward reducing the number of deer/vehicle accidents on the roadways surrounding the park. The park’s varied ecosystems have begun to regenerate and damage to neighboring, private landscapes and agricultural commodities has decreased slightly. In addition, the program seeks to control the spread of Lyme disease-carrying ticks and limit the potential for animal starvation resulting from diminished and/or inadequate winter food supplies.

The herd is currently estimated to contain some 150-200 animals. While much improved, the number of deer on the property remains well above that which the land can adequately support.

bookmark_borderChester County Based Fraud

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PHILADELPHIA, PA — The FBI issued a statement saying Christopher Stehm, 51, of Mason, Ohio, was charged with defrauding his employer, Berwyn-based Ametek Inc., of at least $659,731, announced United States Attorney Zane David Memeger. According to the information, Stehm was the chief accounting officer at two different offices of the company when he submitted phony claims for expense reimbursements, many of which he supported with doctored receipts. Stehm is charged with two counts of wire fraud and two counts of filing false tax returns.

Stehm was the controller for Ametek’s Chandler division in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, from about January 2006 through March 2010. In April 2010, Ametek promoted Stehm to be the vice president of finance at its HCC division in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Stehm held that position until November 2012. In both positions, Stehm was his office’s chief accounting officer. According to the information, throughout his employment at Ametek, Stehm used a variety of methods to obtain “reimbursements” for expenses that he either never incurred or that were wholly personal in nature. These methods allegedly included cutting off the tops of receipts or “whiting out” portions of receipts that Stehm submitted with his expense reimbursement claims to make them appear to be business-related. Stehm also allegedly used copies of the same receipts to support multiple expense reimbursement claims.

Ametek is a publicly traded company (symbol AME on the New York Stock Exchange) that manufactures electronic instruments and electromechanical devices for sale in numerous countries. The company is headquartered in Berwyn, Pennsylvania, but it has offices in numerous locations in the U.S. and overseas.

The information alleges that among the numerous personal expenses Stehm submitted for reimbursement from Ametek were repairs to his personal cars, private meals, and the purchase of a family dog. Stehm also allegedly hid his illegal income from the Internal Revenue Service and claimed baseless deductions when he filed his tax forms for 2010 and 2011, thereby under-reporting his annual income by more than $100,000 in each of those tax years.

If convicted of all charges, the defendant faces a maximum possible sentence of 46 years in prison, three years of supervised release, a $1 million fine, and a $400 special assessment.

The case was investigated by the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mark B. Dubnoff.

An indictment or information is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.