Pittsfield mayoral candidate John Krol said recent claims that he stole from a nonprofit are politically motivated.
The Berkshire Eaglereported that Stacey Carver, who used to head up Animal Dreams, a now-closed animal rescue nonprofit, said Krol transferred $6,800 from the group's bank account to pay off his credit card in 2018 and 2019. Krol had served on the group's board.
After Carver noticed the transactions in 2019, Krol paid the money back within six weeks.
Krol was listed as a director of the board of Animal Dreams in the nonprofit's annual reports filed with the state from Nov. 1, 2013, through Nov. 1, 2018. He was no longer listed on the board in the Nov. 1, 2019, annual report.
Carver, who has supported candidate Peter Marchetti, said she didn't do this for Marchetti. And she said she believes Krol took the money on purpose.
"He took money from a nonprofit. How do you trust someone like that to be a mayor of a city?" she said. "And even if it was a mistake, that's a really big mistake."
Krol does not dispute the money transfers. He thought he was moving the funds from his company's bank account, he said, but the bank gave him an incorrect account number.
"Was there an oversight that I did not catch? Absolutely. But was there a bad intention? Absolutely not," he said.
Krol said this is an attempt to take him out of the mayor's race.
Marchetti did not respond to a request for comment. The general election will be held Nov. 7.
