DAYTON — A Dayton veteran is accused of stealing $78,000 from AMVETS in Dayton.
The money stolen from Post 24 isn’t just taking money out of the pockets of veterans, but it’s taking money away from several charities that the AMVETS give to in town.
[ >> Live Doppler 7 Radar | INTERACTIVE ]
Joseph Bruns was indicted Feb. 13 for grand theft and theft between March 4, 2011, through Jan. 1, 2018, according to a Montgomery County Common Pleas court documents.
Bruns is a U.S. Navy veteran and managed Post 24’s finances for more than a decade. In October 2017, Post Commander Bill Jenks said he noticed something unusual with a check Bruns wrote.
Jenks said the fact that Bruns is a fellow veteran makes the theft hurt even more.
Of the $78,000 that the AMVETS could trace and confirm as stolen, Jenks estimates at least 80 percent of that would have gone to the many charities the AMVETS give back to every year.
“It hurt our ability to give back,” said Jenks.
Bruns served in his role for more than a decade, but the Post was only able to trace back to 2012 what they say was stolen through fraudulent checks and use of the Posts’s credit card.
[ >> Police: 3 in custody after break-in at Hara Arena ]
Bruns resigned from his post as finance officer more than a year ago and one one hear the at post has seen or heard from him since.