The former fire chief of the Esperance Volunteer Fire Department in Schoharie County is accused of stealing nearly $10,000 from his department, New York state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli’s office announced Friday.
Officials say Matthew Deffer, 44, of Esperance, was arrested after he allegedly used his position as head of the department to write himself checks last spring. This includes two checks totaling about $3,900 made out to himself from the village of Esperance EMS account.
DiNapoli’s office says Deffer also allegedly stole an additional $5,751 from the Schoharie Fallen Firefighters Memorial fund account, which he had sole access to. DiNapoli’s office says he allegedly transferred $2,900 in fire department funds to the memorial account and drained the account of all its funds between May and August 2025…