VENANGO CO., Pa. (EYT) — Charges against a Franklin man who is accused of stealing $5,000.00 from a local club were waived on Wednesday morning.

According to court documents, during a preliminary hearing at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, March 2, the following charges against 56-year-old James William Johnson were waived for court:

– Theft By Failure To Make Required Disposition of Funds, Felony 3
– Theft By Unlawful Taking-Movable Property, Felony 3
– Theft By Unlawful Taking-Immovable Property, Felony 3
– Receiving Stolen Property, Felony 3

The charges have been transferred to the Venango County Court of Common Pleas.

Johnson is currently free on $2,500.00 unsecured bail.

Details of the case:

According to a criminal complaint, around 10:46 a.m. on November 22, 2021, Franklin Police spoke to a known witness who was reporting a suspected theft.

The witness told police he suspected James Johnson had stolen or embezzled money from the Franklin Horseshoe Club. according to the complaint.

The complaint states that the witness, who is a member of the club, explained the account was managed by Johnson, and he (the witness) had been named a co-signer in January 2021. He indicated the club had disbanded, and he and Johnson had closed the account on September 20, 2021, and it held $2,057.60. He reported Johnson was left with the responsibility of dividing the balance among the former members.

According to the complaint, the witness told police he had then spoken to other members of the club and found out they had never received the money from Johnson. He then called Johnson on November 19, 2021, and asked about the money and the list of members, saying he wanted to have a complete list so everyone got paid what was estimated to be $130.00 per member.

Johnson called the witness back on November 20 and informed him the money had been stolen out of his truck. He reportedly stated that he had reported it to Franklin Police Department. However, the witness told police he was suspicious of Johnson, so he went to the bank and requested the records from the club’s account, according to the complaint.

On several occasions, the witness explained that he had signed blank checks for Johnson, so he could conduct club business when they weren’t together. He told police he was worried about the checks and said that after reviewing the bank records, he found multiple discrepancies that he felt indicated Johnson had stolen money from the account, the complaint states.

The checks the witness had signed were made out to cash for much larger amounts than he expected. He also noticed charges on the account that he said “didn’t make sense,” according to the complaint.

The witness provided police with copies of the bank records. However, the records did not cover the entire time the account was open.

Police then served a search warrant on the bank to obtain copies of all of the account records for review.

According to the complaint, on December 27, 2021, a review of the records found multiple suspicious checks and electronic transactions.

Johnson was then interviewed on January 5, 2022.

The complaint indicates Johnson was “evasive” during the interview and denied any knowledge of criminal activity involving the account.

Following the interview, on the same day, police received a call from the witness advising that he and other members of the club’s leadership had met with Johnson in Franklin, and Johnson admitted to theft of funds and embezzlement from the account in the total amount of $5,000.00. He reportedly apologized and entered into an agreement with the club counsel to pay back the funds no later than December 31, 2022, according to the complaint.

Johnson was arraigned in front of Magisterial District Judge Matthew T. Kirtland at 11:33 a.m. on February 1.