Denton County fire chief used stolen money for credit card and casino debts, FBI alleges
The former Denton County Emergency Services District 1 fire chief arrested by the FBI on Thursday will face federal charges after he was indicted on allegations of stealing more than $490,000 from the department’s funds to pay credit card bills, according to a news release from the Department of Justice.
Troy Mac Hohenberger, the fire chief and an employee of the district for nearly 30 years, was arrested Thursday evening at DFW Airport by FBI agents after his flight from Las Vegas landed.
Hohenberger is accused by the FBI of stealing from the department’s operating account and mismanaging the ESD1 401(k) plan, which was supposed to have $3.4 million in it.
The indictment alleges Hohenberger’s credit card bills included charges for cash advances at casinos, payments to a relative’s business in Hawaii and other personal expenses. It also accuses the former chief of failing to put funds into a pension plan for firefighters in the department in the time required by federal law.
In addition, he is accused in the indictment of making false statements about the pension fund in forms submitted to the Department of Labor.
Hohenberger made his initial appearance in federal court on Friday.
The accusations in the indictment are also mentioned in a lawsuit filed against Hohenberger and the ESD1.
Hohenberger was the administrator of the department’s 401(k) plan since 2010, according to court documents. Problems arose when employees went several days without a check after payday, according to the lawsuit filed against the Emergency Services District 1 and Hohenberger by former engineer Harold Ring.
In the lawsuit, Ring alleges that a breach of fiduciary duty by Hohenberger and the ESD1 has caused damages to all current and past beneficiaries of the 401(k) plan.
Payments to the firefighters were also delayed on multiple occasions when Hohenberger, the sole administrator over the departments’ finances, was out of town, according to the lawsuit. The department did not have a professional bookkeeper and whenever Hohenberger would travel, Ring alleged payments would be missed. Sometimes, payments made to firefighters were the wrong amount. In some cases, payments would not come until “several days after Hohenberger returned to town.”
Hohenberger would also fail to move money taken out of employee paychecks for the 401(k) plan into the fund like he was supposed to, Ring says in the lawsuit.
Hohenberger and the ESD1 denied all those allegations in their joint answer to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit seeks relief for damages including back pay, equitable front pay, attorney’s fees and court costs, but does not list a specific number.
The court is expected to make a ruling on the motion to certify the lawsuit as class action on Dec. 8.
If convicted of the federal charges, Hohenberger faces up to 10 years in prison. An indictment is one of the methods available to bring criminal charges against a person and is not an indication of guilt.
This story was originally published November 18, 2022 at 9:43 PM.