SCHABARUM ACCUSED OF EMBEZZLING : RECORDS SHOW CHARITY FUNDS USED FOR TRAVEL.Byline: Patrick McGreevy Daily News Staff Writer The District Attorney's Office is investigating allegations that former Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County Supervisor Pete Schabarum embezzled em·bez·zle tr.v. em·bez·zled, em·bez·zling, em·bez·zles To take (money, for example) for one's own use in violation of a trust. money from a charitable group and used it to finance international travel, court records show. In search warrant affidavit affidavit Written statement made voluntarily, confirmed by the oath or affirmation of the party making it, and signed before an officer empowered to administer such oaths. filed in Municipal Court, investigators say they seized bank records and documents from Schabarum's house and a travel agency providing evidence in the case. Schabarum did not return calls seeking comment. His attorney, John Barnett John Barnett (1802—16 April 1890) was an English composer and writer on music. Life Barnett was the eldest son of a Prussian Jew named Bernhard Beer, who changed his surname on settling in England as a jeweller. , declined comment. No charges have been filed against Schabarum by the District Attorney's Office. Investigators allege To state, recite, assert, or charge the existence of particular facts in a Pleading or an indictment; to make an allegation. allege v. that Schabarum transferred $45,000 from a charity he founded to accounts controlled by the Museum of Natural History. Within days, investigators claim, $40,000 from the museum accounts was transferred to a travel agency account in Schabarum's name. The money was used to pay for trips by Schabarum to South America South America, fourth largest continent (1991 est. pop. 299,150,000), c.6,880,000 sq mi (17,819,000 sq km), the southern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. and Canada, and tickets for a trip to Africa that were seized by investigators before the trip could be taken, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the affidavit for a search warrant issued July 15. Investigators allege that the account transfers were a means through which Schabarum embezzled money from the charity and then turned it to his own use. The affidavit alleges that the scheme was aided by Marcus Rodriguez, the former chief deputy director of the county museum. Rodriguez has been sentenced to prison in a separate case for embezzling $2 million from the museum. ``Funds were embezzled from a charitable trust The arrangement by which real or Personal Property given by one person is held by another to be used for the benefit of a class of persons or the general public. account, Foundation for Citizen Representation, which is incorporated and operated by Peter F. Schabarum,'' District Attorney's Office investigator Norman Biehn said in an affidavit. ``Schabarum conspired with Rodriguez to have the funds manipulated and diverted from the Museum of Natural History to a travel account solely for Schabarum's personal benefit thus eliminating the possibility that the donation would be used for public or community benefit,'' the affidavit alleges. ``And, false documents were filed with the state of California as to the disposition of these funds,'' the affidavit states. The affidavit indicates that Schabarum acknowledged taking the international trips, telling an investigator last year that the museum was rewarding him for his support. ``Schabarum stated that the reason the museum paid for the trip was that he had been `very helpful' to the museum over the years,'' the affidavit says. The affidavit, however, said that checks totaling $45,000 from Schabarum's charity were deposited in museum accounts days before $40,000 from the museum accounts were deposited with a travel agency in Schabarum's name. Investigators would not discuss the case. ``We are declining comment at this time,'' said Sandi Gibbons Famous people named Gibbons include:
Gil Garcetti received a bachelor's degree in Management from the University of Southern California and a Juris . James Cordi, an investigator for the state Office of Charitable Trusts, also declined comment. The year-old investigation of Schabarum grew out of the probe of Rodriguez, who was sentenced Dec. 20, 1995, to seven years in prison after pleading no contest to stealing more than $2 million in museum funds, the affidavit said. Schabarum, a former college football star, retired from the county Board of Supervisors The examples and perspective in this article or section may represent an unduly geographically limited view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. The Board of Supervisors is the body governing counties in the U.S. in March 1991 after 19 years in office. After his retirement, the conservative Republican formed a charitable group called the Foundation for Citizen Representation. The stated goal of the group was to do ``public research and education in support of constitutionalism con·sti·tu·tion·al·ism n. 1. Government in which power is distributed and limited by a system of laws that must be obeyed by the rulers. 2. a. A constitutional system of government. b. and limited government, a free society and market economy and the general improvement of national, state and local institutions.'' Schabarum is listed as the president and sole officer of the charity. The affidavit said contributions came from individuals and the general public. Investigators in the Rodriguez case found evidence that two of the museum accounts controlled by Rodriguez provided $40,000 starting in August 1993 to set up a travel account in the name of Schabarum with Holiday Travel Agency in Covina, the affidavit said. Search warrants issued for the travel agency and accounts for the foundation found that Schabarum signed checks over to the museum totaling $45,000 from the account of the Foundation for Citizen Representation. On Aug. 1, 1993, Schabarum wrote a $20,000 check to the museum from his charity, the affidavit said, and that check was deposited by Rodriguez on Aug. 25. That same day, Rodriguez wrote a $20,000 check from the account to obtain cashier's checks cashier's check n. a check issued by a bank on its own account for the amount paid to the bank by the purchaser with a named payee, and stating the name of the party purchasing the check (the remitter). that were used to open a Holiday Travel account for that amount in Schabarum's name, the affidavit said. On April 4, 1994, Schabarum wrote a check for $25,000 from his foundation to the museum, the affidavit said, and April 22 Rodriquez wrote a check from the museum for $20,000 for Schabarum's account at Holiday Travel. On June 1, 1995, a search warrant was served on Holiday Travel. Investigators said a debit to Schabarum's travel account was made Sept. 24, 1993, in the amount of $7,930 with a notation, ``South America tours Oct. 21, 1993.'' ``Holiday Travel reflects Mr. and Mrs. Schabarum traveled to South America on Oct. 21, 1993, Canada on July 11, 1994, and were scheduled to leave for Africa on June 15, 1995,'' the affidavit said. Approximately $23,000 of funds from Schabarum's travel account had been used for deposits on the 1995 Africa tour. However, district attorney investigators seized the tickets to Africa during a search warrant served at Schabarum's residence in June 1995. Schabarum later brought a cashier's check for $23,000 to the District Attorney's Office to get the tickets released. In an interview with investigators at his condo June 13, 1995, Schabarum said he met Rodriguez while Rodriguez worked for county Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich's staff. After Schabarum retired from the board, he became involved with Rodriguez in fund raising for the museum, he told investigators. ``Schabarum said he had raised approximately $3 million to $4 million dollars for the museum, but could not recall the names of any benefactors,'' the affidavit says. Schabarum told investigators he went on the South American trip on behalf of the Contract Cities Association but that the trip was paid for by the museum using the account Rodriguez had established with Holiday Travel. He also said Rodriguez put money in the account for the Africa trip, which was not related to the Contract Cities Association, the records say. ``Schabarum stated that he considered the money deposited to his account at the travel agency a `gift' and the museum was just showing their appreciation for the many things he had done for them while a supervisor and in his retirement,'' the affidavit says. ``Schabarum stated he did not declare the money as `income' on his taxes because he simply considered it to be a gift.'' The court document charges that at no time during the interview with investigators did Schabarum disclose that he had made two contributions to the museum totaling $45,000 from his foundation. The former supervisor also denied knowledge of a notation that indicated he had received a $7,500 expense refund from the Contract Cities Association for the South America trip. The affidavit says money put into a charity is to be used ``strictly for community benefit, and not for individual or personal benefit,'' and that is why charities are given tax-exempt status. Schabarum signed disclosure forms listing the charity's donations to the museum under penalty of perjury perjury (pûr`jərē), in criminal law, the act of willfully and knowingly stating a falsehood under oath or under affirmation in judicial or administrative proceedings. . Biehn wrote that it was his opinion that ``a possible violation of penal code'' sections involving embezzlement embezzlement, wrongful use, for one's own selfish ends, of the property of another when that property has been legally entrusted to one. Such an act was not larceny at common law because larceny was committed only when property was acquired by a "felonious taking," i. , perjury, conspiracy to commit a felony felony (fĕl`ənē), any grave crime, in contrast to a misdemeanor, that is so declared in statute or was so considered in common law. and Revenue and Taxation Code sections involving tax evasion The process whereby a person, through commission of Fraud, unlawfully pays less tax than the law mandates. Tax evasion is a criminal offense under federal and state statutes. A person who is convicted is subject to a prison sentence, a fine, or both. or fraud, ``has occurred.'' The return document also indicates that investigators seized computer and written records regarding other trips, including bookings for a trip to Memphis, Tenn., and a cabin on the Delta Queen The Delta Queen is an American sternwheel steamboat. The Queen is 285 feet long (86.9 meters), 58 feet (17.7m) wide, and draws 11.5 feet (3.5m). The boat weighs 1,650 tons (1,676 metric tons), with a capacity of 200 passengers. for a Mississippi River Mississippi River River, central U.S. It rises at Lake Itasca in Minnesota and flows south, meeting its major tributaries, the Missouri and the Ohio rivers, about halfway along its journey to the Gulf of Mexico. cruise in June 1994. Museum spokesman Chris Hills said Wednesday that he was not aware that any funds donated to the museum were used to pay for Schabarum's travel. Upon his retirement in 1991, Schabarum was asked by the Daily News of his plans and he said that he would ``scour scour, scours 1. the chemical and physical cleaning of fleece wool. 2. diarrhea. dietetic scour see dietary diarrhea. peat scour see secondary nutritional copper deficiency. the countryside'' for good real estate deals to add to an empire that includes holdings in Ventura, San Diego San Diego (săn dēā`gō), city (1990 pop. 1,110,549), seat of San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1850. San Diego includes the unincorporated communities of La Jolla and Spring Valley. Coronado is across the bay. and Riverside counties, and start work as a consultant. ``Of course, we also plan to pursue our interest in travel and do some serious fly-fishing,'' he said at the time. CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO (color) SCHABARUM |
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