The wife of the fire chief of the Kidder Township Fire Department has been charged with stealing nearly $33,000 from the township volunteer fire company's Firemen's Relief Association account.

Amanda Devine, 32, of 203 Erie St. White Haven, was arraigned Wednesday before District Judge Edward Lewis of Jim Thorpe on charges of theft by unlawful taking or disposition, and receiving stolen property.Devine was accompanied to her arraignment by her husband, Kidder Township Volunteer Company Fire Chief John Devine.She told Lewis she is unemployed, has three children, one a 15-month-old child, and suffers from multiple sclerosis and fibromyalgia.Devine also told Lewis she has a court hearing Friday on welfare fraud charges in Luzerne County.Lewis set Devine's bail at $32,000 unsecured because he said she's been very cooperative with the township police department.On Tuesday, the township board of supervisors voted to advertise an ordinance to decertify the fire company in light of the investigation by township police.According to the affidavit of probable cause filed by Sgt. Neil Yurchak and Chief Matthew Kuzma:The two met on June 1 with Robert Hill, president of the township's volunteer fire company.Hill said that he took over as president this January.He went to the fire company's bank, PNC in White Haven, to check on the township volunteer fire company firemen's relief account, at which time the branch manager advised him that the account was closed in October 2014, and there was no money in the account.Hill obtained copies of bank statements from December 2010 to October 2014. Hill also obtained copies of checks that were made out from the account. There were checks made out to Devine and cashed by her.On July 23, Yurchak and Kuzma met with John Brostoski and Karen Guitson from the Auditor General of Pennsylvania.They were given copies of all the checks that were made out to Amanda Devine.According to the affidavit, "They discovered that the lack of controls in place at the township volunteer fire company relief association have created an environment conducive for fraud and theft of funds to occur."On Aug. 18, at 10 a.m. Devine arrived at the township police station for an interview. She was read her Miranda Warnings, which she understood and waived.During the course of the interview, Devine admitted that the checks she made out to herself were to pay personal expenses and not fire company expenses.Devine was shown copies of all the checks and initialled all the checks that she cashed for her personal expenses. The total amount of these checks totaled $29,960.On Sept. 1, Yurchak received copies of checks written by Devine from May to July 2015 from the township volunteer firemen's relief fund that were received by township Manager Lisa Klem.On Sept. 8, Devine came to the police station for an interview in reference to the new checks that were discovered. She was questioned about five more checks that totaled $2,861.She admitted using these checks for personal use and not fire company expenses.Total restitution is in the amount of $32,821.Devine is scheduled to have a preliminary hearing at 10:30 a.m. Sept. 16 before District Judge Joseph Homanko of Weatherly.