Embezzlement

Former City Councilman John Drayman is under investigation for allegedly embezzling money from an unnamed organization in which he had an active role, a Glendale police official confirmed Tuesday. Police served a search warrant for his Montrose condo Tuesday but would not say when the alleged embezzlement took place, how much money was involved, or at which organization. Drayman did not return calls seeking comment. Officials said the investigation was not related to Advanced Development Investments Inc., an affordable housing developer under federal investigation for fraud whose subcontractors performed renovations on Drayman’s condo.

For the first time in years, leaders of the Montrose Shopping Park Assn. face a potential shake-up as other business owners - upset with the handling of the weekly farmers market and other issues - begin staking out more active roles. “People are getting more involved because they want progress,” said Sebu Chatoyan, owner of the Clothing Market. The first test will be next month, when two of the association board members - President Alyce Russell and Treasurer Maureen Palacios - could face challengers in seeking reelection.

Former Councilman John Drayman was indicted Tuesday on charges that he embezzled at least $304,000 from the weekly farmers market in Montrose. In a 28-count grand jury indictment unsealed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, prosecutors also allege that Drayman committed perjury when he excluded earnings sources on Fair Political Practices forms, submitted a bogus credit application in 2010 to a mortgage lender and falsified tax returns to...

Paul M. Anderson GLENDALE -- A Glendale woman will appear in court later this month on charges she embezzled at least $8,000 over the holidays from the Pasadena child care center she worked at. Michele Lynn Riback, 28, of Glendale was arrested Jan. 6 at her father's house in San Diego, said Pasadena Police Sgt. Tom Pederson. Riback is due in L.A. County Court in Pasadena Jan. 31, when a preliminary hearing date will be set. She faces six counts of forgery and one count of grand theft by embezzlement, said L.A. district attorney spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons.

Jackson Bell Many local authorities and parents are infuriated that a Burbank Superior Court judge lightened the conviction from a felony to a misdemeanor for a woman who embezzled $38,000 from the Lincoln Elementary School Foundation. Kenya Duke, 36, of La Crescenta pleaded no contest Thursday after Superior Court Judge Patrick J. Hegarty let her negotiate a lesser charge of misdemeanor grand theft, full restitution of the stolen money and three years of unsupervised probation, officials said.

32-year-old wanted in connection with allegedly laundering more than $5 million in Guatemala.GLENDALE -- A 32-year-old Glendale man wanted in Guatemala for allegedly embezzling millions of dollars from the country's government was arrested Tuesday on immigration violations, officials said. Junior Vinicio Abadio-Carrillo was taken into custody Tuesday while on his way to work from his Glendale home, said Virginia Kice, spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "Apparently he lived in a very well-kept neighborhood of bungalows and he was intercepted on his way to work, and was driving a 1988 Saab," Kice said.

For all the sophisticated computer forensic evidence and what was described as a 3-foot-high stack of bank records, Glendale police detectives said that during their yearlong embezzlement investigation into John Drayman, it was discrepancies in the reporting of pony ride proceeds at the Montrose Harvest Market that solidified their suspicions. The revelations, contained in hundreds of pages of grand jury testimony unsealed on Friday, provided a glimpse into how the police investigation unfolded over time as detectives started looking into the former Glendale councilman's finances.

Embezzlement is a serious offense that works in insidious ways against the unwary. Embezzlement is an activity that can go undetected for many years, if it is detected at all. The chief executive of a corporation, if he heard from his employees that company procedures allowed for the temptation and opportunity and mishandling of funds for embezzlement, would take immediate steps to put into place procedures that would prevent the possibility of...

Whatever the outcome of the embezzlement case brought by prosecutors this week against former Councilman John Drayman, one take-away is sure: There's no substitute for transparency and oversight. In the 28-count grand jury indictment unsealed in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Tuesday, prosecutors allege that Drayman committed perjury when he excluded earnings sources on Fair Political Practices forms, submitted a bogus credit application in 2010 to a mortgage lender, and falsified tax returns to hide embezzling up to $880,000 from the Harvest Market, which is put on by the Montrose Shopping Park Assn.

Amber Willard LOS ANGELES -- A former Glendale Humane Society employee pleaded not guilty Thursday afternoon to a charge that he embezzled $3,525 from the shelter. Gerald Gracian, who was an adoption counselor at the center, remains under investigation by Glendale Police for the alleged embezzlement and by the Los Angeles Department of Animal Services. Earlier this week, the 35-year-old man was arrested at his North Hollywood home after officials found about 200 animals there.

The Montrose Shopping Park Assn. - which long struggled to make ends meet until clamping down on cash-reporting procedures - announced Thursday that the business group was on track to exceed income projections by 11%. The shopping park has made about $400,000 so far, “and it's only August,” said Executive Director Dale Dawson at a board meeting Thursday. And with expenditures remaining steady - originally projected at $360,000 - the shopping park board will be in the enviable position of deciding what to do with the extra money.

The attorney for former Councilman John Drayman, who has been charged with embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars, said outside a Los Angeles County Superior Courtroom on Thursday that he intends to prove that someone else stole the money. Drayman was indicted in May on charges that he embezzled between $304,000 and $880,000 from a weekly farmers market on Honolulu Avenue in Montrose, which he helped establish and run. The charges in the indictment include forgery, filing false tax statements and money laundering, and are alleged to have occurred between January 2004 and April 2011.

For all the sophisticated computer forensic evidence and what was described as a 3-foot-high stack of bank records, Glendale police detectives said that during their yearlong embezzlement investigation into John Drayman, it was discrepancies in the reporting of pony ride proceeds at the Montrose Harvest Market that solidified their suspicions. The revelations, contained in hundreds of pages of grand jury testimony unsealed on Friday, provided a glimpse into how the police investigation unfolded over time as detectives started looking into the former Glendale councilman's finances.

Whatever the outcome of the embezzlement case brought by prosecutors this week against former Councilman John Drayman, one take-away is sure: There's no substitute for transparency and oversight. In the 28-count grand jury indictment unsealed in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Tuesday, prosecutors allege that Drayman committed perjury when he excluded earnings sources on Fair Political Practices forms, submitted a bogus credit application in 2010 to a mortgage lender, and falsified tax returns to hide embezzling up to $880,000 from the Harvest Market, which is put on by the Montrose Shopping Park Assn.

Like a lot of people in Glendale, I have been watching former City Councilman John Drayman, wondering how it is that someone goes from a position of esteem to wearing the blue jumpsuit of a jail inmate. His fall has not been a rapid descent. Last year, when things began to unravel for Drayman, I backed off from making any comment because it felt like I would be dog-piling on an already unfortunate situation. But with a litany of accusations - including embezzlement, filing false tax returns, money laundering, forgery, and more - it's highly unlikely this columnist's opinion is going to be seen as character assassination.

A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge on Wednesday granted the release of former City Councilman John Drayman from jail after his supporters agreed to pay a $16,000 bond. All that remained Wednesday afternoon was for a bondsman to provide the $200,000 bail to the court, and hammer out details to secure Drayman's release. Prosecutors allege Drayman used his position with the Montrose Shopping Park Assn. and the Harvest Market on Sunday to embezzle between $304,000 and $880,000 over the course of roughly seven years.

Former Councilman John Drayman was indicted Tuesday on charges that he embezzled at least $304,000 from the weekly farmers market in Montrose. In a 28-count grand jury indictment unsealed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, prosecutors also allege that Drayman committed perjury when he excluded earnings sources on Fair Political Practices forms, submitted a bogus credit application in 2010 to a mortgage lender and falsified tax returns to...

For the first time in years, leaders of the Montrose Shopping Park Assn. face a potential shake-up as other business owners - upset with the handling of the weekly farmers market and other issues - begin staking out more active roles. “People are getting more involved because they want progress,” said Sebu Chatoyan, owner of the Clothing Market. The first test will be next month, when two of the association board members - President Alyce Russell and Treasurer Maureen Palacios - could face challengers in seeking reelection.

Former City Councilman John Drayman is under investigation for allegedly embezzling money from an unnamed organization in which he had an active role, a Glendale police official confirmed Tuesday. Police served a search warrant for his Montrose condo Tuesday but would not say when the alleged embezzlement took place, how much money was involved, or at which organization. Drayman did not return calls seeking comment. Officials said the investigation was not related to Advanced Development Investments Inc., an affordable housing developer under federal investigation for fraud whose subcontractors performed renovations on Drayman’s condo.

CENTRAL GLENDALE — A woman has been arrested on suspicion of embezzling roughly $260,000 from a Glendale-based film production company and then racking up bills that included visits to hair salons. Police arrested Jaquetta Coleman, 41, after getting a warrant to search her Toluca Lake home, where they seized a flat-screen TV, a Blu-ray player, three computers, shoes and clothing, Glendale Police Sgt. Tom Lorenz said. She was released from jail after posting $20,000 bail on Feb. 24, according Los Angeles County Sheriff’s records.