Federal prosecutors accuse Troy Mac Hohenberger of using the firefighter retirement account for hundreds of thousands in personal expenses, including casinos.
PLANO, Texas — A Denton County fire chief, accused of embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from his employees’ retirement fund, was arraigned in federal court in Plano on Friday and faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
Neither Troy Mac Hohenberger, 73, nor his attorney would comment after his release from federal custody Friday afternoon. But the indictment unsealed the day of his arraignment says a great deal.
As the chief of what was then called the Argyle Fire District, Hohenberger had control of employee contributions to their retirement accounts. Federal prosecutors allege some of that money went into an Argyle Fire Operating Account instead, and that Hohenberger used it as an account for his personal expenses.
Prosecutors allege Hohenberger from 2018 to 2021, “accessed, stole, used, embezzled, and willfully abstracted and converted funds from the AFD Operating Account for his own needs and purposes… to pay the balances owed on his personal credit cards.”
Prosecutors say those credit card charges included included “over approximately $350,000 in cash advances at multiple casinos along with related fees.”
The indictment also alleges that “Hohenberger used over approximately more than $50,000 in the AFD Operating Account to pay for business expenses of a business located in Hawaii that was run by one of his relatives. Hohenberger also used the AFD Operating Account to paycharges he had made to personal credit cards for expenses such as taxes on his real estate properties, meals at restaurants, travel expenses, retail purchases, medical and dental expenses, auto expenses, and other personal expenses.”
Prosecutors also allege that from February 2018 through May 2021, “Hohenberger utilized the AFD Operating Account to make approximately eighty payments to his personal credit cards accounts totaling more than approximately $490,000.”
He is also accused of fraud and making false statements, claiming on forms required by the Department of Labor that he had transferred retirement funds to the proper accounts when prosecutors allege he had not.
Hohenberg, who was arrested Thursday as he returned from a trip to Las Vegas, also faces a civil lawsuit on many of the same allegations.
A federal judge released him from custody on Friday, a next court date set for early next year. If convicted of the most serious charges against him he faces up to 10 years in prison.