A 43-year-old employee of a Union City trucking company has been charged with more than 150 felony counts for his involvement in an embezzlement scheme that spanned nearly a decade and siphoned over $4 million, according to authorities.
Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price stated that the charges include 89 counts of grand theft by embezzlement, with one charge filed for each month from January 2015 to May 2022, the period during which the crimes are alleged to have occurred.
The man was arrested on Tuesday at the San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport.
Price also announced that the individual faces 65 counts of money laundering for allegedly depositing more than $900,000 of the embezzled funds as cash deposits into his personal bank accounts. In total, it’s estimated that he embezzled $4.3 million.
According to Price, the man exploited his trusted position within the company to manage finances and obtain a company fuel card account, which he covertly used to write and cash checks for himself on a weekly basis over nearly eight years. Prosecutors believe the stolen funds financed a lavish lifestyle that included luxury vacations, professional sports events, high-end retail purchases, and frequent gambling.
In addition, the man is charged with perjury. Prosecutors allege he falsely claimed under oath in an unrelated court filing that he had a net gambling income of $10,000 per month, which Price said was an attempt to disguise the true source of his wealth.
