SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA CO. (WOLF) — A Scranton woman is facing multiple felony charges, accused of stealing nearly $100,000 from the city’s firefighters pension fund. Investigators say the payments were intended for the widow of a retired firefighter, but continued for years after her death.
Stacey Bouton is charged with two counts of theft by unlawful taking, two counts of theft by deception, 15 counts of forgery, and one count of identity theft. Bail has been set at $100,000.
According to a criminal complaint filed February 25th, the investigation began when Attorney Larry Durkin, solicitor for the City of Scranton’s pension funds, contacted Scranton Police to report a suspected theft involving the firefighters pension fund.
The pension was originally issued to retired Scranton firefighter Robert Matticks after his retirement in 1998. When he died in 2013, payments were transferred to his wife, Henrietta Matticks, who was listed as the survivor beneficiary.
Police say Henrietta died in 2020, but the pension payments did not stop.
Instead, investigators allege direct deposits totaling $88,859.67 were made into Bouton’s Fidelity Bank account between June 2020 and March 2025.
Authorities also claim that between May and August of 2025, Bouton received and cashed 15 checks made out to Henrietta Matticks, totaling more than $10,000. Two of those checks were not cashed.
The issue was discovered September 20th, 2025, when a pension board member reviewing a list of payees noticed Henrietta Matticks was still listed as receiving payments. The board’s president, Gary DeStefano, was notified and payments were immediately stopped.
In total, investigators report the loss to the pension fund from 2020 to 2025 is $96,464.
DeStefano says while the financial impact is significant, the fund remains stable.
“The purpose of this current firefighter pension fund is obviously to pay all the retired firefighters and all the future firefighters who are going to retire. Sadly, the funds come from the city and the members themselves, along with contributions from the state. So, something like this is a significant impact to the fund but not insurmountable.”
He says the allegations are particularly upsetting because of Bouton’s ties to the firefighting community.
“It’s really sad because this is a person who grew up with her father as a firefighter It made both her father and mother’s retirement possible from the fund. And now sadly she took money from the fund when she wasn’t entitled to it.”
Durkin says incidents like this are extremely rare.
“I’ve been there more than 10 years and I think it’s happened one or two times where we’ve had a slight delay and maybe one or two payments are made, and then they’re returned But we have never seen anything beyond a short delay,” said Durkin.
He explains that when overpayments occur, the board typically works to recover the funds. If repayment isn’t made, legal action can follow.
“We stand by all the allegations that were made in that complaint. Once she did not respond to it, we entered judgment against her for the amount that was claimed,” said Durkin.
Durkin says safeguarding the fund is a top priority.
“The board takes this very seriously. It is money that our members have contributed and it’s taxpayer money and money that is expected to pay for retirement for firefighters and their spouses,” said Durkin.
Bouton now faces multiple felony charges as the case moves through the court system.