Fire chief reported missing by family, then investigators uncovered $178,000 missing from his own department

Matthew White, the fire chief in South Greensburg, Pennsylvania, has been arrested and accused of stealing nearly $178,000 from the volunteer fire department he led. The allegations surfaced in reporting from CBS News, which outlines how a missing-person report turned into a financial probe.

State police said the case began when White’s family reported him missing, and troopers attempted a welfare check. Investigators tracked him to South Carolina, where he was taken into custody.

While working to locate White, troopers reviewed bank activity tied to the department and a debit card he could access. That review flagged a $3,000 transfer from department funds into White’s personal account, prompting a broader examination of the department’s records.

A welfare check led to a much larger investigation

Trooper Steve Limani said the focus shifted once investigators saw money moving out of the department’s account. He said the effort to find White “snowballed” into the case now under review, with investigators alleging the transfers date back to at least 2023 and add up to nearly $178,000. Separate travel complaints have also drawn attention this week in an American Airlines gate mix-up.

According to investigators, White allegedly used the department’s bank account to make purchases he labeled as donations, then transferred the funds into a Citizens Bank account linked to him. Troopers said they are still working to determine where the money went after it left the department.

Investigators also pointed to a lack of internal checks and balances as a factor that may have allowed the activity to go unnoticed. They said they do not currently have reason to believe anyone else was involved, and the review of financial records is ongoing. Elsewhere, a motorcycle saddlebag discovery story circulated as another recent local-news style report.

White is expected to be returned to Pennsylvania to face charges tied to the alleged theft. State police said the records review will continue as he is brought back, and additional charges could follow if more questionable transactions are identified later.