Retiring finance manager accused of stealing $84K+ from Tri-Cities business

A 71-year-old man allegedly stole at least $84,000 from a Kennewick business over the course of eight years.

Greg Higle managed Cascade Fire Protection’s finances for more than 30 years, and was planning to retire, court documents said. That is when an old account was discovered that had been used to siphon money out of the company’s main account.

Now he is charged in Benton County Superior Court with first-degree theft with the allegation that he committed a “major economic offense.”

While the theft was discovered in 2024, the charges were only recently filed.

Cascade Fire Protection’s owner called Kennewick police in May 2024 about the suspected embezzlement. He told investigators that Higle was in the process of retiring and employees were reviewing old accounts.

They discovered one that had been opened nearly two decades ago with $10,000. At the time, the firm realized it wouldn’t work for what they wanted it to and stopped using it.

While the owner believed the account was dormant, they soon found a series of suspicious transactions between 2016 and 2024. Higle allegedly put $300,000 into the account using customer checks.

He allegedly wrote more than $125,000 of unauthorized checks from the account, court documents said. He also transferred several thousands of dollars to his personal bank account.

Investigators believe at least $84,000 can’t be accounted for between October 2016 and April 2024, but the mix of legitimate expenses and questionable charges makes it hard to separate them.

It’s unclear how much money was in the account when they discovered it.

Higle told detectives that he transferred the money to repay donations that he made at large charity events using his own money.

“When confronted with banking records showing the funds were actually going to his personal expenses, Mr. Higle admitted that he also transferred funds to his personal account to pay off personal expenses,” court documents said.

“Mr. Higle acknowledged that what he did was wrong, but reiterated that some of the funds were for authorized charity donations.”

The company’s owner said Higle didn’t have the authority to make charitable donations on behalf of the company.