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Uniontown treasurer accused of stealing more than $112K from area churches

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Alyssa Choiniere/For the Observer-Reporter

Antoinette L. Hodge, 53, of Uniontown, was charged with stealing more than $112,000 from area churches. Hodge, Uniontown’s elected treasurer, is also accused of stealing tax payments from city residents in a separate case filed last year.

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Mark Hofmann/For the Observer-Reporter

Fayette County District Attorney Rich Bower, left, announced that charges were filed against Uniontown City Treasurer Antoinette Hodge following an investigation into missing funds from the Youghiogheny Western Baptist Association. He was joined by investigators state police Trooper Jonathan Eberhardt and Detective Steven Kontaxes with the Fayette County Bureau of Investigation.

Youghiogheny Western Baptist Association, a collective of 27 area churches, has been put on payment plans to keep utilities on at its buildings and pay back-due real estate taxes, and now relies on financial support from other churches to stay afloat.

Fayette County District Attorney Rich Bower alleged the YWBA’s dire position stems from the theft of more than $112,000 by the former chairwoman of the board of trustees, Antoinette L. Hodge, 53, of Uniontown.

Hodge, who also faces charges in a separate case, accused of stealing tax payments in her role as Uniontown’s elected treasurer, was charged Thursday with forging checks and withdrawing money from the YWBA’s money market account without approval. She faces 39 total charges, including 33 counts of forgery.

“The members of the organization became suspicious when they discovered that invoices and bills were not being paid and discovered the organization was significantly in debt to creditors, and at risk for several essential services to be discontinued,” Bower said.

When they raised concerns with Hodge, he said she assured board members the bills were being paid.

“They also discovered funds in both the general checking account and a money market account were secretary depleted,” Bower said.

On Thursday afternoon, Hodge’s attorney, Chad Schneider, said that his client maintains her innocence, and declined further comment on the allegations.

Police said the alleged thefts started in July 2018. The board voted to remove Hodge from her volunteer post in December, and contacted police about the missing funds in February.

The YWBA operates churches in Fayette, Greene, Westmoreland and Allegheny counties, as well as one in Morgantown, W.Va. The association is financially supported by annual membership dues from each of its 27 churches, church and community contributions, fundraising events and offerings. It is managed by an executive board whose members serve on a volunteer basis and are not compensated.

As the chairwoman of the trustee board, Hodge had no signature authority over the association’s bank accounts, but police said she used her role to gain control over the YWBA’s finances and operations. When past-due bill notices came in, police alleged, Hodge hid them from other board members.

Bower said the investigation showed multiple checks made payable to “cash” with suspicious entries or no entries in the memo field, and no receipts or documentation to support the check payments. He said 33 checks contained forged signatures of other YWBA members.

In all, police said $8,600 was missing from the association’s general checking account from 12 fraudulent withdrawals, $11,764 was withdrawn from the YWBA’s money market account, and $92,120 in 83 fraudulent checks were written payable to “cash,” totaling $112,484.

“They have very little money,” Bower said. “They have not been made whole in any way.”

Bower said employees at the bank where the checks were cashed and YWBA business was conducted told investigators they were familiar with Hodge and thought the transactions seemed strange. But, because the checks appeared to have the necessary signatures, and Hodge was a known member of the YWBA, employees completed the transactions.

“She was a fiduciary who had an ultimate responsibility to the 27 churches of the YWBA,” Bower said. “She violated the trust of 27 churches and the organization, all the members of those churches and the YWBA.”

In December, state prosecutors charged Hodge with stealing nearly $107,000 in taxes paid to her as Uniontown’s elected treasurer. That investigation was launched in 2021, after several taxpayers received delinquent notices but had already paid their taxes.

Authorities alleged she used the tax money to pay for vacations and gambling, both of which were brought up during a grand jury investigation about the YWBA’s missing funds.

Over a three-year period, Bower said Hodge spent $144,328 gambling at a local casino, and would frequent convenience stores to buy lottery tickets, often spending more than $1,000 on them daily.

Hodge faces a preliminary hearing in both of the cases lodged against her on May 24 at 1:30 p.m., and is free on bond.

Hodge, a Democrat, has filed paperwork to run for reelection as the city’s treasurer, and faces opposition from Francis Joby Palumbo in the primary.

No Republicans have filed to run for the seat.

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