| For Immediate Release Case # 08CF2767
December 18, 2009 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Public Affairs Counsel Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami |
YOUTH CRISIS SHELTER EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT CONVICTED OF EMBEZZLING OVER $435,000 TO SPEND ON PERSONAL LUXURY ITEMS
SANTA ANA – A youth crisis shelter executive assistant was convicted today of embezzling more than $435,000 from the shelter and spending it on a lavish personal lifestyle. Lydia Kathleen Fitzgerald, 48, formerly of Los Alamitos, pleaded guilty to the court to one felony count each of grand theft, fraudulently using an access card, second-degree commercial burglary, and willfully failing to file a tax return, 23 felony counts of forgery, 16 felony counts of falsifying a book of records, three felony counts computer access fraud, and three felony counts of filing false tax returns.
Fitzgerald has been ordered to pay over $390,000 in restitution to the shelter and over $93,000 in restitution to the State of California Franchise Tax Board. She is expected to be sentenced to a court offer of four years in state prison on Jan. 22, 2010, in Department C-41, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana.
Between April 2004 and November 2007, Fitzgerald embezzled more than $435,000 from the Casa Youth Shelter in Los Alamitos, a charitable organization that provides temporary shelter and counseling for runaways and youth in crisis. While employed as an executive assistant, Fitzgerald forged numerous checks to herself and charged personal expenses for herself and her family on a company credit card. She used the money to remodel her home and purchase vacations, meals, clothes, a car, a boat, and numerous other luxury items.
Fitzgerald attempted to hide the theft by altering the shelter’s books and records to show untrue payees or payment amounts. When the bank account used for payroll began to deplete from Fitzgerald’s theft, she opened a line of credit in the shelter’s name and used that line of credit to transfer money into the payroll account. The defendant failed to report or pay taxes on the income from the stolen money. Fitzgerald also put $45,000 in stolen money back in the shelter’s accounts to attempt to hide her theft.
The Director at Casa Youth Shelter discovered Fitzgerald’s theft after the bank alerted her to the discrepancies in their accounts.
Deputy District Attorney Brian Mulherin of the White Collar Crime Team is prosecuting this case.
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