Prosecutors to check the criminal investigation into “great theft” in the former senior center

Middletown, Ohio (WXIX) -the prosecutor of Butler County, Mike Gmoser, confirms that his office has checked the results of a state and local criminal investigation in the Now -Areater -Senior Center from Middletown.

“I check it in my role as a public prosecutor,” he said, declining all further comments.

No fees were submitted at this point.

The Middletown police, the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the special investigation unit in the office of the state auditor began examinations in the summer of 2023.

Diane Rodgers, the managing director of the Senior Center, was abruptly released by the board of a non -profit agency at the end of July 2023, which the publicly financed facility “after a great theft discovered”, as state records show.

The Middletown police accompanied Rodgers out of the building and it was instructed to never return.

The boss said FOX19 that at that time they were the focus of the probe and that newly published state e -mails show that the investigators were clearly set up on them from the start.

Rodgers was not charged and could not be reached for a comment.

After her discharge, her lawyer had little to say in her name.

In an e -e -mail in August 2023 to FOX19, he now wrote: “My customer and I have been informed that there is an ongoing examination. While my customer wants to comment and clarify some misunderstandings, she takes on my advice and refuses to comment on any allegations at that time. “

Fox19 turned to the same lawyer this week, but replied that he no longer represented her and rejected a comment.

When Middletown Detectives began to examine the center of the center of the center of the finance and banking documents, they found that they needed the specialist knowledge of the forensic accountants. The chief of police asked BCI to support their investigation into “a suspected theft of a local organization”.

BCI agreed to take part in the fact that Middletown supported the police in the first stage of the investigation and met on August 4, 2023 with them, as can be seen from an Interoffice email in the state auditor office.

The day before, city officials announced at a public meeting that the non -profit agency and the board of directors, who monitored the senior center, and Rodgers 2021, only a criminal review of the background check in Ohio instead of nationwide.

The non-profit organization, Senior Citizens Inc. in Middletown, at this point, according to online records in Ohio's Ohio State Secretary, managed to business on business on business on business on business.

The police said that the board of the non -profit organization worked completely with the investigation.

Rodgers came from Nevada to Middletown and used to live in California, where Fox19 confirmed by the courts in 2023 that in 2006 it was criminal in other states and for counterfeits in other states by changing a check, Grand theft, break -in and a fictional check.

Newly published state records show that their criminal record “outside of Ohio theft of companies in California and others” contained theft of senior facility companies.

The forensic accounting manager of a BCI in the department for technical investigations by the agency turned to a fraud investigator in the auditor to seek their help a few days after meeting the Middletown police.

“I have a case that I believe that he needs their services,” he wrote in an e -mail received by FOX19 on August 7, 2023 via a public recording request to the office of the auditor.

“A few weeks ago, the director of the Middletown Senior Services ended after a great theft was discovered. It was discontinued 18 months ago and has a crime story for similar thefts in other states. This is not a profit from the county. “

At this point in the e -mail, he shared a link to Fox19 Now from August 3, 2023 via the city of Middletown, the planned to buy the center to prevent it from closing within 24 hours.

It was the second time that Middletown residents invested in the center. The voters approved two five-year-1 mill taxes, which generated $ 7 million for the provision or maintenance of senior services in the center. The levy ran after 10 years on December 31, 2022.

The original mortgage was paid when the delivery ended, the then city administrator Paul Lolli said the city council at this meeting on August 3, 2023.

The same story also reported that Fox19 now discovered County Records, which showed that a mortgage of 650,000 US dollars by Rodgers as executive director on behalf of Middletown Area Senior Citizens Inc., in 2022 -$ 450,000 in July and another $ 200,000 for the total of 650,000 US doors December 30, 2022 was removed when the Levy ended.

In addition, in May 2023, a lien of $ 266,594.52 was placed on the property by a Milford contractor due to a guilt in connection with improvements in the center in June 2022.

The E -Mail of the BCI official to the office of the state auditor informed the results of the investigation when it was in the early stages:

“The director wrote her husband Scheck, exceeded money from the organization and calculated personal expenses. The employees were all paid in cash when the bank account was repeatedly accepted. The director opened a non -authorized café, a bar and a business on the site of the Senior Center and seems to have taken the money generated by these companies. The Senior Center has many providers who have become unpaid and the building is isolated.

“Unfortunately, all experienced accountants were released at an early stage and replaced by inexperienced accountants who were little visibility towards what happened in the organization. As far as everyone can judge, there is no major. While there are some transactions that are obviously bad, I fear the information we now have that we only scratch the surface of the true theft. I think there is a complete examination and support in replicating the main register. This goes beyond the skills of my unity. Do you think that's something that Siu would be interested? “

During an exchange of other e -mails that day, both agencies realized that the senior center was financed publicly.

The auditor's fraud investigator wrote in an e -mail with the Interoffize that the Senior Center received 7 million US dollars at Levy Fund, and there are unpaid providers.

“Potentially millions, they have no number of potential loss,” she continued. “I gave some feedback (on BCI like) Freeze Opera for the first indictment and the identified bank accounts) to protect where you believe that you believe that you are a flight risk with your history.”

The auditor's Special Investigations Unit agreed to open an examination the next day and show another e -mail.

Two weeks later, the Middletown police accused the Rodgers husband of presenting seven cases of bad checks in connection with the senior center.

Court files show that he was accused of writing several checks of more than 56,000 US dollars from his bank to central connections. The checks were returned for inadequate means and the investigators were prompted to believe that he tried to return money from the senior center's account.

In the following month, a Grand jury of Butler County decided not to accuse him of, and the indictment was dismissed, as court files.

The Grand Jury procedure is confidential, so it is not clear why.

He could not be reached for a comment and his currently listed telephone number is separated.

The city of Middletown bought the Senior Center building in November 2023 with $ 1.8 million, which it had received through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), a 6.5 billion US dollar federal fund for COVID-19-aid funds.

In the month before the city was purchased, the lien was released and the mortgage of 2022 was satisfied and paid off completely. According to Thursday, which was published on Thursday of FOX19, he has now been published. The city agreed to buy the center only if the non -profit organization took care of all debts and liabilities, said Lolli.

“We didn't buy the debits or liabilities,” said Lolli on Thursday.

The non -profit agency, which once headed the Senior Center, was in no way connected, added Lolli.

He refused to discuss the investigation, but said that Middletown wanted to save the center, “to ensure that we continue the services for the seniors. We had to make sure that the seniors gave a place to gather and maintain services. “

It is now called the Middletown Event Center with a new manager, Angela Smith.

There is still programming for seniors and health demonstrations.

The public can also rent it for weddings and corporate or social events.

“You rent the facility and do more and more every month,” said Lolli. “They had weddings and other events there. The hope is that it will become self -supporting at some point. “

The center no longer offers meals on wheels for seniors.

Lolli said seniors can get this from a program in Warren County.

Shortly before Rodgers was released, the facility lost its contract, which delivered around 3,000 meals to seniors per week.

The Council for the aging of the south -woo at least reduced relationships about financial concerns regarding the processing of meals and conductive transport programs.

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