Clarkton fire chief and asst. fire chief charged with fraud

BLADEN COUNTY, NC (NEWS RELEASE) — Allen Robinson, 35, of 10963 US 701 S. Clarkton and Joshua Edward Simmons, 25, of 8347 NC 242 S. Bladenboro have both been charged with crimes resulting from the search warrant which was served on 07/09/2013.

Robinson, who was the Clarkton Fire Chief, has been charged with (2) counts of Insurance Fraud, (5) counts of Embezzlement, and (2) counts of Corporate Malfeasance. The case was presented to a Bladen County Grand Jury Monday (08/05/2013).

Robinson was released on a $175,000 unsecured bond.

Simmons, who was the Assistant Clarkton Fire Chief, has been charged with Felony Conspiracy and was released on a $5000 unsecured bond.

Robinson and Simmons are accused of cutting a water pump off one the fire trucks in 2012 and reporting the pump as being stolen for the insurance money. The pump was valued at close to $13,000.
Robinson also reported several air tanks as being stolen in 2010, when in-fact, they were still being used by the Clarkton Fire Department.

Robinson is also accused of misappropriation of funds while he was chief of the Fire Department.