By LeAnn R. Ralph
MENOMONIE — Matthew J. Feeney, director of the Boyceville ambulance service, made an initial appearance in Dunn Count Circuit Court May 27 on two misdemeanor counts of fraudulent data alteration and theft in a business setting.
Dunn County Circuit Court Judge Rod Smeltzer was initially assigned to the case, but after an application on April 13 for a different judge, the case was assigned to Eau Claire County Circuit Court Judge John F. Manydeeds.
Judge Manydeeds set bail with a $1,000 signature bond and ordered Feeney to have no contact with the Boyceville ambulance service and not to discuss the case with anyone at the ambulance service and not to discuss the case with his wife.
The Boyceville Ambulance District Board of Directors in November of 2019 ordered a full audit of the district’s finances for 2016, 2017 and 2018 and placed EMS Chief Matthew Feeney and Captain Tessa Feeney on administrative leave.
According to the complaint, a detective with the Barron County Sheriff’s Department met with Feeney on November 12, 2019. The detective told Feeney someone with the Boyceville ambulance service had discovered purchase orders that had been submitted to the ambulance district board that appeared not to match the ambulance district’s credit card usage.
The source at the ambulance service said Feeney had been questioned by the ambulance district board about some of the transactions at the ambulance board’s October meeting, according to the complaint.
Feeney took over the financial responsibilities for the ambulance district in 2016 after the previous clerk-treasurer for the ambulance district became ill.
When Feeney took over, the ambulance service had annual deficits, although more recently, the ambulance service has had budget surpluses at the end of the year.
Feeney is scheduled to make another court appearance in Dunn County July 15 before Judge Manydeeds.
