Man charged with stealing over $35K from Clairton VFD

A Clairton man is accused of allegedly stealing over $35,000 from the City of Clairton’s Volunteer Fire Department, according to the Allegheny County District Attorney’s office.

Joseph Massaro, 46, who is also the owner of Roscoe’s Electric, LLC. in Clairton, is charged with receiving stolen property, theft by unlawful taking and misapplication of entrusted funds stemming from an alleged incident June 5, 2020.

According to the affidavit of probable cause, Massaro served as the treasurer for the Clairton VFD since 2016, with sole access to two of the department’s financial accounts. In early 2025, the board president discovered missing funds and a number of cash withdrawals from the department’s bank account, according to the criminal complaint. The total amount of funds allegedly stolen is $36,906.67, and Massaro claimed he was treasurer of the VFD until early 2024.

Throughout the investigation, court records state that officials uncovered various transactions from 2018 to 2025, including 103 purchases from Amazon, 110 payments to Home Depot, 5 payments to Capital One and multiple ATM cash withdrawals, allegedly used for Massaro’s personal benefit.

According to the affidavit of probable cause, Massaro eventually admitted to using the fire department’s bank accounts for personal use, and claimed that the payments to his personal account were a mixup in payments where the wrong account was used.

The Clairton VFD told the Mon Valley Independent Wednesday that due it being an active criminal case, they do not have any comment to give at this time.

A preliminary hearing for Massaro before Magisterial District Judge Armand Martin is scheduled for 1 p.m. June 16, and Massaro was arraigned Tuesday afternoon.