| For Immediate Release Case # 09HF1682 September 24, 2009 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Public Affairs Counsel Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami |
CHURCH FINANCIAL SECRETARY ARRESTED AND CHARGED WITH DEFRAUDING CHURCH AND CONGREGANTS BY STEALING OVER $200,000
FROM WEEKLY OFFERINGS
NEWPORT BEACH – A 34-year-old former financial secretary for the Compass Bible Church (CBC) in Aliso Viejo was arrested and charged today with stealing over $200,000 from the weekly offerings made by congregants to the church. Crystina Renee Bock, 34, Ladera Ranch, is charged with 62 felony counts of grand theft with sentencing enhancement and allegations for aggravated white collar crime exceeding $100,000 and losses over $100,000. Bock faces a maximum sentence of 45 years and eight months in state prison if convicted. The People will be requesting $225,000 bail and the defendant must prove that the money is from a legal and legitimate source before posting bail. Bock is scheduled for arraignment on Monday, Sept. 28, 2009, at the Harbor Justice Center, Newport Beach. The time and Department are to be determined.
Beginning June 1, 2005, Bock worked part-time as CBC’s financial secretary and assisted with accounting for offerings and payments made to CBC by congregants. Bock prepared the church’s deposits each week, updated the electronic financial records, and sent contribution statements to the congregants documenting their donations for tax purposes.
Between June 2005 and September 2008, Bock is accused of taking over 440 congregants’ donation checks and depositing them into her personal account. Bock is accused of writing her personal account number on the back of CBC checks before making the deposits. The defendant is also accused of altering the church’s financial records to make the contribution statements reflect the congregants’ contributions for that year.
In September 2008, the church’s financial supervisors contacted the Orange County Sheriff’s Department after learning that a $1,000 donation check had been cashed but was not deposited into the CBC account, as recorded by Bock.
The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with additional information is encouraged to contact Supervising Deputy District Investigator Ron Frazier at (714) 347-8691 or Orange County Sheriff’s Economic Crimes Unit Investigator Teresa Standiford at (714) 647-7038. Deputy District Attorney Marc Labreche of the Major Fraud Unit is prosecuting this case.
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