Former Delaware County EMS manager accused of theft, misconduct

Indiana State Police arrested the former Delaware County Emergency Medical Services office manager Wednesday following an investigation into her oversight of the agency’s finances.

Meagan Coutinho, 42, of Albany, had worked as the EMS office manager since 2019, a position in which investigators say she abused access to payroll and financial accounts for her own personal gain.

Coutinho resigned from her post earlier this year after her supervisor and the county prosecutor confronted her about claiming unauthorized overtime hours, according to arrest documents submitted by ISP Detective Ron Halbert.

On Wednesday, Coutinho was arrested on four counts of felony theft and one count of official misconduct and conflict of interest, according to the affidavit.

The Indiana Lawyer left Coutinho a voicemail and email requesting comment on the allegations, but she did not respond before Thursday’s deadline.

Law enforcement arrested Coutinho around 1 p.m. on Wednesday and booked her into the Delaware County Jail, Delaware County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Hoffman told The Lawyer in a written statement on Thursday.

In the evening hours on Wednesday, Coutinho posted a $30,000 bail and was released from jail, Hoffman said.

No charges have been filed against Coutinho in MyCase, the state’s public court records database, as of publication.

“I am currently reviewing the case and hope to have a charging decision in the coming days,” Hoffman said.

When asked how and when the investigation into Coutinho’s EMS duties began, Hoffman said he could not comment on the specifics of the investigation.

According to the affidavit, from July 2021 to February 2026, Coutinho allegedly claimed or submitted nearly 6,000 hours of unapproved and unauthorized overtime, which amounted to about $181,749.93 in county funds.

During an interview with the county prosecutor and her direct supervisor, Mike Ashley (who is the person who would have had to approve her overtime, the affidavit stated), Coutinho acknowledged that she did pay herself the overtime, but she said that it had been approved years earlier by two other county officials. According to the affidavit, both of those former officials said they did not approve of Coutinho’s hours, nor would they have had the authority to do so.

Coutinho resigned from the EMS at the end of the meeting, the affidavit stated.

Aside from managing payroll, Coutinho also had control over an EMS internal benevolence account used for agency employees.

The EMS account was serviced by Thrive Credit Union in Muncie, the same credit union Coutinho held a personal account with, according to the affidavit.

Detective Halbert said that from September 2024 through early March 2026, Coutinho made at least 26 intrabank transfers, totaling more than $14,000. She also allegedly used the same EMS account to pay off her own credit card bills.

Investigators also assert that Coutinho made numerous cash withdrawals from the EMS internal account, payments to utility companies, Amazon purchases and in-store purchases, all without having the authority or authorization to make the transfers.

According to the affidavit, while she was working for the EMS, Coutinho secured for her cleaning business, Exquisitely Spotless, an oral contract to regularly clean the Delaware County 911 Call Center. A county commissioner told Coutinho to properly file a conflict-of-interest statement as required by law. But according to the affidavit, she did not.

From March 3, 2025, to March 9, 2026, Delaware County paid Coutinho $7,000 for cleaning the 911 Call Center, the affidavit says.

The affidavit also accuses Coutinho of failing to deposit eight uncashed checks made payable to Delaware County EMS, many dating to 2024. State law requires that all public funds paid into the state treasury must be deposited no later than the business day after the agency receives the funds.

The uncashed checks totaled more than $12,000.

Delaware County EMS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

ISP also accuses Coutinho of stealing from the Delta High School girls’ golf team.

According to the affidavit, Coutinho served as treasurer of the golf team’s booster club from 2023 to 2025. As treasurer, Coutinho had access to the booster club’s debit card and bank funds.

After Coutinho resigned from her treasurer position in November, the next treasurer told investigators that she discovered money missing from the club’s account.

In June 2024, the booster club held a golf fundraiser at the Albany Golf Club. The Delta girls’ golf coach told investigators that Coutinho collected the money from the event, which included checks and cash.

After the event, Coutinho deposited about $3,000 in checks, but not the cash, the affidavit stated. The current treasurer believes the 2024 fundraiser account was short by almost $2,000.

The current treasurer told investigators that she went to local retailers where Coutinho used the club’s debit card, obtaining detailed receipts showing what Coutinho bought.

According to the affidavit, Coutinho spent more than $500 at various retailers, with purchases including cleaning supplies and mums, which the current treasurer said were not used for the golf program.

Detective Halbert said Coutinho’s personal cleaning business would “obviously use cleaning supplies.”

At the end of 2025, the golf club bank account was short by almost $4,000, according to the affidavit.

So, on Dec. 1, Halbert contacted Coutinho to set up an interview. When asked about the debit card purchases, Coutinho said it must have been a mistake and that she may have used the wrong card, according to the affidavit. She said her debit card purchases were not “purposeful” and that she could pay the club back.

Coutinho denied taking money from the account for her own personal gain.

On Dec. 10, Coutinho reimbursed the club $3,800, according to the affidavit.