Fraud & Theft Charges Filed Against Salt Lake City Firefighters Relief Association Board Member

Today, Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill announced charges against Eric Donald Kajma, a board member of the Salt Lake City Firefighters Relief Association (SLFRA), for alleged fraud and theft related to the recreation account he managed for the SLFRA.

On June 23, 2024, a Taylorsville Police detective made contact with a board member of SLFRA, Daren Mortensen, after Mortensen had conducted an audit of the organization’s recreation account. Mortensen had found several unapproved purchases made by the defendant. When Mortensen asked the defendant for bank statements from the account, Mortensen also requested the same statements from the credit union where the organization banks. Mortensen noticed a discrepancy between what the defendant provided and the credit union. The credit union statements showed that there had been purchases and cash withdrawals on eight transactions for the account, whereas the statement provided by the defendant only showed the purchases, not the cash withdrawals. When confronted with the discrepancies in cash withdrawals and unauthorized purchases, the defendant admitted he had used $2,552.97 from the SLFRA account and needed to pay them back. It was ultimately determined that the defendant had used the card to purchase 45 unapproved items, and because of the unauthorized purchases and withdrawals, the SLFRA suffered a loss of $3808.40.

The defendant is charged with one count of third-degree felony forgery, one count of third-degree felony theft, and one count of third-degree felony unlawful use of financial transaction card. Charges were filed against the defendant on July 30, 2024.

“We appreciate the thorough work done by the SLFRA audit and the Taylorsville Police Department to help lead to these charges being filed,” said Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill. “All persons accused of wrongdoing are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.”