The former Jenkintown official blew more than $180,000 at Parx Casino, authorities said.
The slot machines at Bensalem’s Philadelphia Park Parx Casino ka-chinged away.
But they were not ka-chinging for Michael H. O’Neill, 50, of the 500 block of Rodman Avenue, Jenkintown.
Playing the high-limit slot machines, O’Neill lost $181,599 from Sept.14, 2007, through December 2009, according to the play usage recorded on his Player Card.
That card shows that O’Neill visited the casino 180 times during that time period.
The problem is not that O’Neill was losing but, according to Montgomery County authorities, he was losing taxpayers’ money.
O’Neill, the former Jenkintown tax collector, Thursday was arrested on charges of theft and related offenses for stealing $226,973 in tax revenue that he had collected for the Jenkintown School District.
“We just see too many of these cases by someone who is entrusted with public funds and then violates that public trust for their own personal whim,” said District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman. “Whether they spend the money on gambling, their kids’ college education, trips or other frivolous things, it’s wrong. No matter what they use the money for, it’s wrong.”
“Those funds are public dollars and were meant to be used by the public for all the things the community needs,” said Ferman. “Taking the money for himself, he is compromising his position and compromising the community.”
O’Neill, arraigned before District Judge Elizabeth McHugh, was released on $50,000 unsecured bail. His preliminary hearing is set for June 17.
Advertisement
School officials learned of a possible problem in January when they received a report filed by O’Neill with the state showing that $201,181 had been collected but was being held by a tax service and would be turned over shortly to the school district.
While pressing O’Neill for further information, school officials also received a bank report that showed numerous discrepancies, according to the criminal complaint. These discrepancies included checks made out to the tax collector being deposited into O’Neill’s personal account, money transferred from the tax revenue account to O’Neill’s personal account, checks made payable to the tax collector being partially deposited into the tax account and O’Neill’s personal account and a $32,000 check from the casino deposited in the tax account.
O’Neill subsequently admitted to school officials that he had a gambling problem and had “misappropriated” the $201,181, according to the criminal complaint.
Meeting with borough and county detectives later that day, O’Neill estimated he had taken about $225,000 from the tax accounts to gamble at the casino, the complaint said.
O’Neill, a Democrat who was serving his ninth year as tax collector after being elected to a new four-year term in November, voluntarily resigned from his post at the time.
Neither county nor borough officials believe that O’Neill stole any of the tax money he collected for them.
Copyright © 2010 – The Intelligencer
