Misappropriation Funds

Thousands of dollars donated to 7-year-old Ronnie DeSillers for his battle against liver disease apparently were spent by his mother for other purposes after the boy's death, a state investigator said Friday. Bank records show that Maria DeSillers used some donations to pay back a $5,000 loan from her former boyfriend and to pay $1,765 in rent for her apartment.

The Los Angeles County district attorney's office plans to retry the case against Bell council members accused of misappropriating public funds by overpaying themselves for sitting on city boards and authorities that rarely met, according to defense attorneys connected with the case. D.A. spokeswoman Jean Guccione said Tuesday that prosecutors want a retrial after jurors in March issued a mixed verdict and the judge declared a mistrial on some counts. Jurors delivered a mixed verdict for Victor Bello, George Cole, Oscar Hernandez, Teresa Jacobo and George Mirabal, finding them guilty on multiple felony counts and acquitting them on other charges.

A jury convicted former Inyo County Sheriff Donald C. Dorsey on Thursday of charges that he misappropriated more than $230,000 in county funds and lied to investigators. Dorsey, a former president of the California State Sheriffs Assn., was convicted on eight felony counts, including embezzlement, tax evasion and perjury. The case stemmed from Dorsey's use of a special sheriff's fund between 1986 and 1991.

The California state attorney general's office is investigating whether the Santa Catalina Island Conservancy's controversial executive director misappropriated funds, sources close to the case said Tuesday. That allegation and others against Ann Muscat were made in complaints submitted to the attorney general by former officers of the nonprofit that manages nine-tenths of Santa Catalina Island, according to documents obtained by The Times. Muscat declined to comment. Lynda Gledhill, press secretary for Atty.

A veteran South Los Angeles gang intervention worker has been forced to resign from his agency and will no longer work the streets on behalf of City Hall after he was caught manipulating time cards, officials said Friday. Harry Warren, who bounced in and out of jail as a young man, had been a high-profile intervention worker and youth counselor for 20 years. He was forced to resign recently from Chapter Two, his nonprofit agency, after being confronted with evidence of financial impropriety, several officials confirmed.

The collapse of a New York-based sports marketing company that played a key behind-the-scenes role at the 1984 Olympics has created a swirl of allegations about misappropriation of funds to buy racehorses, fancy homes and cocaine. Robert Landau Associates, a well-known sports marketing and sales promotion firm, had contracts in recent years with such major organizations as the Olympics Organizing Committee for the 1984 Winter Games in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, and American Broadcasting Cos.

More than anything, Robert L. Citron wanted to stay out of jail. He would admit to lying about the condition of Orange County's investment pool to help peddle bonds, to misappropriating public funds, to falsifying documents--all to keep from landing behind bars. At least for now. In a plea agreement reached Thursday, the former Orange County treasurer-tax collector appeared to lose everything and gain nothing. He implicated his faithful assistant treasurer.

The California state attorney general's office is investigating whether the Santa Catalina Island Conservancy's controversial executive director misappropriated funds, sources close to the case said Tuesday. That allegation and others against Ann Muscat were made in complaints submitted to the attorney general by former officers of the nonprofit that manages nine-tenths of Santa Catalina Island, according to documents obtained by The Times. Muscat declined to comment. Lynda Gledhill, press secretary for Atty.

Herb Cawthorne, conceding he was guilty of some "mistakes" and "poor judgments" while president of the San Diego Urban League, called Wednesday for a mediator to settle the bitter financial and personal dispute over his alleged misappropriation of more than $13,000 of the agency's money.

A UC Irvine audit released Wednesday found that the former director of the medical school's cadaver program misappropriated money and tried to cover it up. The 29-page audit portrays a Willed Body Program in disarray under Christopher Brown, who was later fired by the university, with poor record keeping and little supervision from the professors above him.

Eight years after former Compton Mayor Omar Bradley was found guilty of corruption, an appeals court this week tossed his conviction out, saying that his trial had not proved that Bradley meant to break the law. Bradley was convicted of misappropriation of public funds in 2004 along with former Councilman Amen Rahh and former City Manager John D. Johnson II. Prosecutors said the men had used their city-issued credit cards for personal items and...

Two former Lynwood council members accused of illegally boosting their salaries were convicted Tuesday in a closely watched case that legal experts said could expand the definition of public corruption. The guilty verdicts marked a significant victory for the Los Angeles County district attorney's office in its efforts to crack down on city officials who pay themselves excessive salaries. The Lynwood trial was seen as an important test case for prosecutors as they prepare to try former Bell council members accused of similar charges in a much higher-profile corruption scandal.

Prosecutors are seeking additional criminal charges against the Newport-Mesa Unified School District's chief. Supt. Jeffrey Hubbard, 54, faces two felony counts of misappropriation of funds related to his previous job as superintendent of the Beverly Hills Unified School District. The Los Angeles County district attorney's office plans to take recently acquired evidence to a grand jury in hopes of securing additional charges and possibly joining them with the first two felony charges.

A criminal hearing for four Bell officials accused of misappropriating hundreds of thousands in public funds was abruptly halted Wednesday when former City Administrator Robert Rizzo complained of chest pains during a lunch break and was rushed to a hospital. Rizzo, the face of the Bell salary scandal, was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles, where a hospital spokeswoman would not comment on his condition. The hearing is scheduled to reconvene Monday. James Spertus, Rizzo's attorney, denied initial reports that his client had collapsed and said Rizzo's discomfort "came on suddenly and was serious enough that paramedics wanted to transport him. " Rizzo was wheeled on a gurney from the courthouse with a towel on his face, but he appeared conscious.

In nearly four decades as a journalist, I've tossed a fair number of public figures onto the grill. But I don't recall a reaction as polarized as the response to my Jan. 13 skewering of former Bell city administrator Robert Rizzo. Lots of people loved it. "One of your best!!!" wrote reader Margaret Schwartz. And lots of people hated it. "Maybe you should start your own vigilante business. What a jerk. You need help as much as Rizzo does," wrote John Earl. By mid-morning on the day it ran, Times editors asked if I would respond online to readers who were posting comments on our website in a running debate about whether the column was a fair shot or a cheap shot.

Newly elected state Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris said Saturday that reviewing the civil case against current and former city officials of Bell was one of her priorities, but that she had yet to determine how her office would proceed. Her predecessor, Gov. Jerry Brown, filed a sweeping civil lawsuit last summer and vowed to recover hundreds of thousands of dollars allegedly pilfered from city coffers in a "civil conspiracy" to defraud the public. That lawsuit, which was filed against former City Administrator Robert Rizzo and seven others who have also been criminally charged with misappropriation of public funds, has since been dealt a number of setbacks.

In the opening shots of what is sure to be an expensive legal war, the cities of Loma Linda and La Quinta have filed lawsuits against Newport Beach investment adviser Steven D. Wymer to recover about $16.8 million in allegedly misappropriated funds, the cities' attorney said Wednesday. Meanwhile, city officials in Orange, which lost $7 million, sought to reassure residents that the city has ample financial reserves and won't have to cut staff or raise taxes despite a $5.

A UC Irvine audit released Wednesday found that the former director of the medical school's cadaver program, misappropriated money and tried to cover it up. The 29-page audit portrays a Willed Body Program in disarray under Christopher Brown, who was later fired by the university, with poor record keeping and little supervision from the professors above him.

A tipster dropped me a line the other day to say she'd spotted an infamous former public official in Huntington Beach, working as a parking lot guard at the International Surfing Museum. So I drove down Wednesday to have a look, and guess what: Humpty Dumpty has had a great fall. Robert "Ratso" Rizzo seems to have a new job. You know the name, no doubt. Rizzo is the disgraced former city administrator of Bell who was charged along with other city officials of misappropriating millions of dollars in public funds from that financially crippled community while finagling a staggering salary for himself of nearly $800,000 a year.

A veteran South Los Angeles gang intervention worker has been forced to resign from his agency and will no longer work the streets on behalf of City Hall after he was caught manipulating time cards, officials said Friday. Harry Warren, who bounced in and out of jail as a young man, had been a high-profile intervention worker and youth counselor for 20 years. He was forced to resign recently from Chapter Two, his nonprofit agency, after being confronted with evidence of financial impropriety, several officials confirmed.