Casa Youth Shelter's loss may rise
Authorities say a former employee's alleged embezzlement may be more extensive than first believed.
The bad news arrived in November, when workers at Casa Youth Shelter were told a fellow employee had allegedly embezzled more than $200,000 from the Los Alamitos nonprofit.
The toll, however, may be much higher than they thought.
Lydia Fitzgerald, 46, an administrative assistant at the shelter, allegedly rang up more than $311,500 in charges for an opulent lifestyle that included shopping sprees, a Mercedes-Benz, a Cadillac and a boat, according to a search warrant affidavit filed recently by Los Alamitos police.
The affidavit alleges that Fitzgerald allowed her daughter to buy Christmas gifts on a credit card billed to the nonprofit and that she and her daughter shopped together for Victoria's Secret lingerie that was charged to the shelter.
Last July, she allegedly put down a $2,000 payment with the shelter's money to buy a 2007 Cadillac CTS.
And Fitzgerald's husband, Nick Joseph Fitzgerald, 44, is suspected of trading in a boat for a new Bayliner with $1,837 fraudulently obtained from the shelter's American Express credit card account, according to the affidavit.
Police have asked for handwriting samples from each family member to compare with credit card bills as part of the investigation, which has not concluded. No arrests have been made.
Lydia Fitzgerald could not be reached for comment. But police said she admitted using the shelter's funds for her personal gain in an interview Nov. 21.
She reportedly told police that she spentabout $180,000, though she didn't know the exact amount.
But authorities said the estimate of the loss grew as police investigators pored over bank statements and computer files seized at her Seal Beach residence.
Los Alamitos Polce Det. Paul G. Barbieri, who signed the affidavit, said he believed that Fitzgerald committed embezzlement, forgery, burglary and fraudulent use of a credit card.
"I believe that the intent of her actions was to benefit her opulent lifestyle" and also benefit her husband, daughter and two sons, Barbieri said.
The theft was discovered after the shelter's executive director, Luciann Maulhardt, got a call from its bank Nov. 20 saying that two checks totaling $49,000 had bounced. The checks were to cover the shelter's payroll and were drawn on an American Express credit line allegedly initiated by Fitzgerald.
Maulhardt said that her name was forged on the checks and that she had no knowledge of a credit line for the shelter.
- California in Brief / LOS ALAMITOS - Theft won't affect shelter's services Nov 28, 2007
- Shelter says $200,000 is missing Nov 28, 2007
- Casa Youth Shelter's loss may rise Mar 29, 2008
