Embezzlment

A woman who worked as a bookkeeper for thoroughbred trainer Charles Whittingham was sentenced to four years in state prison today for embezzling nearly $1.5 million from him. Sally Ann Stubblefield, 54, was also ordered by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Reginald Dunn to pay Whittingham $150,000 restitution. Stubblefield pleaded no contest in November to one count of grand theft and three counts of forgery.

A Los Angeles police officer who was arrested for pocketing $270 taken from drug dealers has pleaded not guilty to a charge of embezzlement, authorities said today. Kendall Lee Walker, 30, a five-year veteran of the department, was arrested Aug. 10 after an internal sting operation showed he was taking small amounts of money from cash taken during drug arrests, Cmdr. William Booth said. Walker resigned from the department the day of his arrest.

A man suspected in the disappearance and death of his ex-wife will stand trial on charges of embezzlement, tax evasion and perjury. Dave Hawk of Lemoore was arrested in June on suspicion of stealing more than $300,000 from his children's trust fund accounts and lying about his income during child custody, visitation and support proceedings. Hawk waived his right to a preliminary hearing Friday. His attorney said he will plead not guilty next month to 10 felony charges. Hawk has been named the prime suspect in the death of Debbie Hawk, who was reported missing from her home in June 2006.

Sentencing was postponed Wednesday for Priscilla Butler of Laguna Niguel, charged with receiving stolen property from her mother, who embezzled more than $1 million and gave almost all of it to her daughter. Butler, 22, who pleaded guilty to the charges last month, made a brief appearance in the Foothill Law and Justice Center here and told San Bernardino County Superior Court Judge Charles Havens it was all right to delay her sentencing. It is now scheduled for May 8.

A former fund-raiser for Retinitis Pigmentosa International, who embezzled $50,000 from the charity, was sentenced Tuesday to eight months in prison for violating his probation by committing another crime. Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Sherman Juster ordered Daniel Jay Sonners, 28, to serve the eight months consecutively with a two-year sentence imposed last month for an unrelated burglary.

Russian Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak is suspected of attempting to embezzle more than $43 million in state funds, prosecutors said. Police detained Storchak on Thursday along with Viktor Za- kharov, head of the firm Sodexim, and the chairman of Moscow's Interregional Investment Bank, Vadim Volkov. They have not been formally charged.

A former employee of FHP Inc. and four others have been arrested on suspicion of embezzling more than $100,000 from the company, Fountain Valley police said Wednesday. Carla Corley, 31, of Anaheim was arrested after a six-month investigation by the health maintenance organization and police, according to Sgt. Darryl Nance. Between 1988 and 1991, Corley allegedly had company checks made out fraudulently to her accomplices, who then split the money with her, Nance said.

A Camarillo mortgage broker will be arraigned today in Ventura County Municipal Court on charges that he embezzled almost $500,000 from investors over six years, a spokesman for the district attorney's office said. Joseph Curren, 47, surrendered at the Ventura County Jail Wednesday, a month after a warrant was issued for his arrest on suspicion of grand theft and real estate fraud, Sheriff's Detective Jean Miller said. He was being held in lieu of $1 million bail, Miller said.

Juanita St. John--who allegedly owes the city more than $260,000 in connection with the Africa trade task force she headed--also is suspected of embezzling funds from an anti-genocide organization called International Alert, according to a search warrant made public Thursday. Los Angeles police seized bank and credit card records from seven locations after Sgt. James R. Heisdorf said in an affidavit that an investigation indicates St.