A former volunteer treasurer for Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Huntington Beach, made his initial court appearance Wednesday on charges of embezzling more than $300,000 from the congressman’s campaign and from a former employer.
Arraignment was rescheduled to March 8 for Jack Wenpo Wu, 45, of Newport Beach, according to Senior Deputy District Attorney Marc Labreche.
Wu’s $322,000 bail was reduced to $262,000, which reflected some restitution he has made to his former employer, and he was expected to post it and be released by tonight, Labreche said.
Wu, who was arrested Tuesday at his home, is accused of unlawfully taking about $238,000 from Rohrabacher’s campaign re-election committee. He began volunteering as treasurer of the committee in 2004, and his duties included paying taxes, filing Federal Election committee reports and overseeing the campaign’s bank accounts.
Wu is also accused of embezzling from Russell Fischer Inc., a firm that hired him as a controller in 2008. He was earning $70,000 annually at that job until March 30, 2012, when he became an independent contractor earning $1,000 monthly, Labreche said.
Wu allegedly set it up so he could keep collecting his annual salary as well as the independent contractor pay. From June 2012 to September 2013, Wu collected $71,000 in pay not owed to him, Labreche alleged.
Wu also allegedly collected an additional $12,000 in payments from the firm in the summer of 2013, Labreche said. Russell Fischer Inc. fired Wu in September 2013, when the alleged embezzlement was discovered, but he agreed to pay it back, the prosecutor said.
Wu allegedly siphoned off money from Rohrabacher’s committee to pay back the money to RFI, Labreche said.
The alleged embezzlement from Rohrabacher’s coffers came to light when his wife, who is also his campaign manager, tried to pay a bill with a debit card and was told there wasn’t enough money in the account, Labreche said.
In June, Rohrabacher’s campaign committee filed a complaint with prosecutors about the alleged embezzlement. Attorney Charles Herbert Bell Jr. told City News Service then that when the lawmaker’s wife called the bank about the rejected charge, she was informed there was $187 in the campaign’s account.
Wu faces up to 20 years and four months in prison if convicted as charged, Labreche said.
—City News Service