Placentia’s finance services manager made his first appearance in court Thursday on charges of embezzling $4.3 million from the city.
Michael Minh Nguyen, 34, of Irvine, was arrested last night on a warrant charging him with 17 felony counts of misappropriation of public funds, with sentencing enhancement allegations for aggravated white collar crime exceeding $500,000 and property loss more than $3.2 million, according to Senior Deputy District Attorney Marc Labreche.
Nguyen’s arraignment Thursday was rescheduled for May 6.
Nguyen, who was hired in April 2008, is accused of making 17 wire transfers from the city’s coffers to several personal accounts and to others, Labreche said. The allegedly illegal wire transfers began in April of last year and continued through Tuesday when the city was alerted to the transactions, Labreche said.
The FBI alerted the city of the suspicious transactions, Labreche said. The city has frozen a $1.5 million wire transfer and is getting the money back, Labreche said.
Officials were working to get back more of the money, the prosecutor added.
The city asked the Orange County District Attorney’s Office to take over the investigation to avoid any conflict of interest, Labreche said. On Monday and Tuesday alone, the defendant was accused of making $1.8 million in wire transfers, he added.
It was not immediately clear what prompted the alleged embezzlement, Labreche said. It did not appear Nguyen was living a lavish lifestyle as he was renting an apartment in Irvine, Labreche said.
Nguyen was being held on $4.3 million bail and if he is to post enough to get out of custody he must prove the cash comes from a legitimate, legal source.
City officials say they moved quickly to stop the embezzlement when it came to their attention and asked for help from the District Attorney’s Office to put in place stricter controls to stop similar stealing in the future.
“This goes completely against the values of our City and the positive strides we have made during the last year,” Placentia Mayor Jeremy Yamaguchi said. “Any misuse of our taxpayers’ funds is adverse to the values and commitment that we strive for as a city. We immediately brought this to the attention of the District Attorney’s Office and have been continually working with our police department, the District Attorney’s Public Integrity Team and other entities to ensure all the funds in question are recovered. We have taken immediate and decisive actions on this matter, and will continue to remain steadfast in our endeavors to provide the highest standards of public trust for our community.”
City Administrator Damien R. Arrula said officials have asked prosecutors to help them audit their financial system to strengthen it against theft.
“This alleged embezzlement and theft of public funds is an affront to the people of Placentia and to our hard-working employees,” Arrula said. “It is of grave concern to learn that a city employee would exploit his position and knowledge of our internal controls for personal gain. The city of Placentia will not tolerate any misconduct by any city employee to ensure the highest level of standards are being followed. The city immediately suspended the employee and he has since been terminated. To ensure transparency and an independent investigation, the city immediately contacted the District Attorney after learning of the potential misconduct. We have and will continue to fully cooperate with the Orange County District Attorney’s Office to not only prosecute to the fullest extent of the law but also recover all costs associated with this misappropriation. This will include pursuing all criminal and civil remedies.”
Nguyen could face up to 29 years in prison and a fine of $8.6 million if he is convicted at trial, Labreche said.
— Wire reports