SPOKANE — A former Cusick, Washington, town clerk was indicted Tuesday on more than 75 counts of fraud and theft.
Luke Michael Servas, 38, is accused of embezzling about $195,000 while he was the Cusick Town Clerk between October 2022 and March 2023. He was also a member of the town council at the time.
In his role as clerk, Servas was responsible for keeping the city’s financial records.
There were two credit cards issued to make purchases on behalf of the town, according to court documents: one for the mayor and one for Servas.
Servas is accused of fraudulently using the mayor’s card along with his own to make payments to his PayPal account and a cryptocurrency account.
In March 2023, when other town officials expressed concerns about missing funds from the town’s account, Servas made a report to the Pend Oreille County Sheriff’s Office that money had been stolen from the town’s account using the Mayor’s card, according to court documents.
Servas told officials only the mayor had access to the account. The indictment also alleges that after making that report, Servas wrote a fraudulent check from Cusick’s account to himself and forged the mayor’s signature.
“An elected public official, entrusted with the funds to keep communities safe and strong, has a moral duty and legal responsibility to protect that money,” United States Attorney Vanessa Waldref said in a statement.
The theft was investigated by the Spokane Bureau of Investigation with the help of the Pend Oreille County Sheriff’s Office and the Washington State Auditor’s office.
