Luke Michael Servas, Bank Fraud, Washington 2024

Spokane, Washington – In a shocking case of public corruption, former Town Clerk and Town Council Member Luke Michael Servas has pleaded guilty to Bank Fraud in connection with embezzling over $195,000 from the Town of Cusick.

According to the plea agreement and other court filings, Servas embezzled the funds while employed as the Town Clerk for the town of Cusick, Washington between October 2022 and March 2023. During that time period, Servas was also an elected member of the town council.

Like many cities and towns, Cusick residents elect a town council, which selects a town clerk. The clerk is responsible for managing Cusick’s finances and financial accounts. Cusick’s account also had two credit cards issued to make expenditures on behalf of the town: one issued to Cusick’s elected mayor, and one issued to Servas as town clerk.

Servas fraudulently and without authority used the mayor’s town credit card, as well as his own town credit card, to embezzle and transfer more than $190,000 in public town funds from Cusick’s bank account to PayPal accounts owned and controlled by Servas and his spouse, and to a cryptocurrency account owned and controlled by Servas.

In March of 2023, other town officials expressed concern that funds were missing from the town’s account. Servas contacted the Pend Oreille County Sheriff’s Office to report that between $150,000 and $200,000 had been stolen from the Town of Cusick’s operating bank account. Servas indicated that these funds were stolen using the mayor’s credit card account and falsely stated that only the mayor had access to the account.

“Mr. Servas not only carried out a fraudulent scheme to rob a town of its financial resources, but when his colleagues noticed the money missing, Mr. Servas filed a report with law enforcement to hide his theft,” stated U.S. Attorney Vanessa R. Waldref. “Mr. Servas took these actions while an elected public official with a moral duty and legal obligation to protect that money. Our communities trust elected officials to serve others, rather than to look after only their own self-interest. When elected officials abuse this trust by committing theft and lining their own pockets with taxpayer money, these officials devastate our communities and undermine our democratic system of government.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Spokane Resident Agency, with investigative and logistical support from the Pend Oreille County Sheriff’s Office and the Washington State Auditor’s Office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dan Fruchter. Servas is scheduled to be sentenced on November 13, 2024.

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