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Ex-employee of police department suspected of embezzling money - Desert Sun |
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Saturday, 20 September 2003 |
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Ex-employee of police department suspected of embezzling money
Posted on September 21, 2003 at 08:35:24 PM by Desert Dawg
Ex-employee of police department suspected of embezzling money
By Lois Gormley The Desert Sun September 20th, 2003
CATHEDRAL CITY -- A former Cathedral City Police Department employee is facing criminal charges in connection with misappropriation of about $32,000 in funds from the property room, police reported Friday.
Harold Aguilar, 56, city of residence unknown, came under scrutiny by the department following an audit of the property room’s procedures and policies in March, said Cathedral City police Chief Stan Henry.
The audit was conducted by a third-party auditor, Evidence Control Systems Inc. of Burbank, as a normal control measure.
Aguilar was placed on paid administrative leave while the audit continued and internal and criminal investigations were launched, Henry said.
Those investigations determined Aguilar did not follow the proper process of handling money booked into the property room, so the department submitted the case to the district attorney’s office for review.
On Friday afternoon, charges were scheduled to be filed against Aguilar, said Supervising Deputy District Attorney Paul Vinegrad.
He faces one count of felony embezzlement and one count of felony grand theft.
At the request of the police department, a warrant was not issued for Aguilar’s arrest. Instead, the district attorney’s office will send him a letter advising him to appear in court Oct. 20 for arraignment.
Henry said he did not feel that a warrant was necessary since Aguilar has cooperated with the investigation and is not considered a flight risk.
Aguilar, who worked for the department as a community services officer for about seven years, resigned in early May, Henry said.
His duties largely consisted of handling the items going in and out of the property room.
The chief said there are security procedures in place regulating access to the property room but there are not enough personnel to have two people in there at all times.
He said the security measures and staffing policies will not change as a result of this investigation.
Source: http://b4.boards2go.com/boards/board.cgi?action=read&id=1064194524&user=SoCA
http://www.thedesertsun.com/news/stories2003/local/20030920022445.shtml
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