Hatfield Township Man Facing Felony Theft Charges for Selling, Installing Chimney Liners and Keeping the Money, Police Say

Tony Di Domizio | North Penn Now•

A Hatfield Township man is accused of numerous felony offenses for violating his ownership agreement with a Chalfont chimney company by selling and installing $73,000 in chimney liners on behalf of the business, but keeping the money for himself over a six-year period, police said.

Darryl J. Hughes, 59, of the 700 block of Oak Park Road, was charged March 15 by Central Bucks Regional Police Department on felony charges of theft by unlawful taking, theft by deception, receiving stolen property, theft by failure to make required deposition of funds received, and deceptive or fraudulent business practices. Hughes is also accused of misusing company resources.

He was arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Regina Armitage on March 20, who set bail at $50,000 unsecured, according to the criminal docket. A preliminary hearing is scheduled before Judge Armitage on April 30 at 1 p.m.

Authorities allege Hughes took side work away from his 20% ownership agreement with the company by taking their clients from the business for his own monetary gain.

The investigation into Hughes began when the chimney company owner and his attorney showed up at police headquarters to report one of his former employees, identified as Hughes, was stealing money from the company, according to the criminal complaint. Hughes, police said, became 20% owner of the company in January 1998.

Investigators allege that Hughes — who worked for the company as an employee — even drafted up an employee handbook that included a section prohibiting employees from "soliciting customers while conducting company business or on their personal time” for services that can be conducted by the chimney business.

Hughes’ alleged behavior raised eyebrows of three managers in 2018, who inquired with the owner what Hughes was doing since he was not showing up regularly to work, according to the complaint. Management believed, police said, that Hughes was doing side work.

Further questions were raised when, in an early 2022 meeting about the company’s new inventory system, Hughes insisted that chimney liners not be included in the inventory, according to the complaint.

Then, on June 10, 2022, an employee witnessed Hughes allegedly load a liner system into a company van and leave the premises with a new employee, according to the complaint. Employees took their concerns to management, as they did not want to be blamed for missing inventory, per the report.

Upon returning to the business, management interviewed the new employee, who admitted helping Hughes do an installation job, authorities allege. An employee, police said, contacted the customer, who confirmed Hughes did the installation and was paid cash directly.

With this alleged evidence, per the complaint, the chimney business co-owner met with Hughes and confronted him about the alleged liner installation and keeping the cash.

Hughes allegedly denied it occurred, then told the co-owner it was only one time, police said. When confronted with evidence of other alleged instances, Hughes broke down and admitted to taking money "a handful of times,” per the complaint.

He then asked for forgiveness, per the report, but he was fired that day.

All in all, an internal investigation by the company revealed Hughes allegedly took cash or a check from a customer 36 times since from May 2016 to June 2022, per the complaint.

In checking Hughes’ bank records, investigators found combined deposits of $58,390, per the affidavit. Authorities tacked on an additional $15,413 in stolen funds to account for the costs of the chimney liners used in each job and the median cost for the year the liners were installed, according to the complaint.

All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.