WILKES-BARRE -- An investigation into missing fuel owned by the city of Wilkes-Barre has concluded and no one will be charged.
For years, authorized Wilkes-Barre city workers could fuel up their personal vehicles at the DPW headquarters along Pennsylvania Avenue.
City officials said the practice was adopted because it was cheaper than purchasing vehicles.
In 2012, the Luzerne County District Attorney’s office opened a criminal investigation after nearly 18,000 gallons of city-owned fuel was unaccounted for between December 2011 and June 2012.
Later in 2012, the state Department of Revenue fined the city nearly $26,000 for the missing fuel. A spokesperson for the city said the city paid the fine, but appealed it, blaming the missing fuel on “poor institutional record keeping.”
Federal, state, and Luzerne County investigators said due to the city’s lack of a policy to document the use of fuel, there was no way to prove that there was any wrongdoing.
Investigators said the city has since taken measures to ensure better record keeping and the practice of allowing employees to fuel personal vehicles has ended.