SPOKANE, Wash. — A former public official for the Town of Cusick, Washington, has pleaded guilty to bank fraud related to embezzling town funds.
Court filings indicate that Servas embezzled over $195,000 while serving as the Town Clerk for Cusick from October 2022 to March 2023. During this period, Servas was also an elected town council member.
According to the press release, Servas managed Cusick’s finances as Town Clerk. The town had two credit cards issued for official expenses—one for the elected mayor and one for Servas. Servas used both cards without authorization to transfer more than $190,000 from Cusick’s bank account to PayPal accounts and a cryptocurrency account controlled by him and his spouse.
In March 2023, other town officials raised concerns about missing funds. Servas reported to the Pend Oreille County Sheriff’s Office that $150,000 to $200,000 had been stolen from the town’s account using the mayor’s credit card. He falsely claimed that only the mayor had access to the account. Additionally, Servas issued a fraudulent $4,961 check from Cusick’s account to himself, forged signatures of the mayor and another town official, and cashed the check around March 20, 2023.
A U.S. District Judge accepted Servas’ plea deal and has scheduled a sentencing hearing for Nov. 13 in Spokane.
