Former congressional candidate arrested on fraud charges
Delecia Holt, who ran for congressional seats in Orange and San Diego counties in 2005 and '06, is also accused of committing welfare fraud, authorities say.
A twice-failed congressional candidate was arrested today on suspicion of defrauding south Orange County businesses of $55,000 in an alleged crime spree that authorities say began in 2005 when she drove away in a luxury car after giving the dealer a bad check.
Delecia Holt, 46, is also accused of committing welfare fraud; officials are trying to determine how much she may have stolen, the Orange County district attorney said.
Holt, whose most recent address is in Aliso Viejo, was a Republican write-in candidate for the 48th Congressional District in Orange County in a special primary election in 2005; the seat became vacant when Rep. Christopher Cox was named chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Holt ran again as a GOP candidate in 2006 in the 53rd Congressional District in San Diego County.
According to a news release from the district attorney, Holt wrote a check for about $13,000 as a down payment on a $32,000 Mercedes-Benz in July 2005. Authorities say that the check bounced and that she never made a payment for the car.
Holt is accused of skipping out on a Lake Forest hotel after accumulating a $5,000 bill between July and September 2007. In October 2007 she allegedly hosted a comedy night fundraiser at a Dana Point hotel, claiming the money was for Habitat for Humanity. No money was raised, prosecutors said, and Holt is accused of defrauding the hotel of $15,000 and the four comics of $2,000.
Authorities said the checks she wrote to the hotels and comics bounced.
Prosecutors have requested $55,000 bail and want proof that the money comes from a legitimate source before Holt is released.
hgreza@latimes.com
