Former McMahan Fire Chief Paul Barth was indicted by a federal grand jury Monday.
The charges include one count of mail fraud, three counts of wire fraud and 16 counts of money laundering.
Barth resigned from the department in January. At the time, he was serving a suspension because the fire district board had leveled administrative charges of financial mismanagement against him, including allegations that he used a department credit card to pay personal expenses. He had been placed on unpaid suspension during a Nov. 24 board meeting.
An investigation by The Courier-Journal revealed that Barth appeared to have used a department Crusade for Children account to make payments in excess of $25,000 on the credit card.
Barth was serving as the board chairman for the Crusade at the time, and he was removed from that position following the allegations.
Barth has not commented on the allegations to the newspaper. His attorney, Charlie Ricketts, has repeatedly said that Barth did not do anything inappropriate and that he would gladly repay any debt to the department, "real or perceived."
In his resignation letter to the department, Barth offered to repay about $12,000 to settle allegations of unauthorized personal expenses and salary overpayments, but the district board rejected the offer.
The board charged Barth in October and added two additional sets of administrative charges against him by Dec. 7, accusing him of mishandling federal funds, overpaying himself and improperly using department funds. Some of those charges were later withdrawn because of an ongoing police investigation.
Because of Barth's resignation, no district hearings on the allegations were ever held.
A review of statements from the credit card assigned to Barth showed at least $35,000 in personal spending since January 2008.
Those charges included about $10,800 paid to the Jefferson County clerk for the registration of 10 of Barth's personal vehicles and about $15,000 to Pinellas County, Fla., for taxes on a condominium Barth owns there.
There also were charges to Sea World, the Orlando Hard Rock Hotel, an Orlando rental car office, insurance companies, and the Doo Wop Shop in Louisville.