UCLA investigates theft

More than $250,000 has been embezzled by a university employee
who deposited stolen university checks into their own account,
authorities said Friday.

The employee worked for a physician at a clinic affiliated with
UCLA and is being investigated by both the university police and
the UCLA Audit and Advisory Services, said University Police
Detective Richard Elias.

Elias said he could not release the names of those involved and
could give only basic information about the case because he did not
want to compromise the investigation.

“Right now the investigation is in the process of
identifying all bank accounts and records pertaining to the suspect
so that we can track the flow of the money,” Elias said.

The employee has not yet been charged or arrested but is no
longer with the university. Elias said he hopes to complete the
investigation in the next few months.

Elias did not specify how long the thefts had been going on or
how many different times checks were stolen, but noted the
embezzlement was “not very sophisticated” and was a
fairly simple act of collecting and depositing the money.

According to the UCPD Media Log, Executive Administrator for the
departments of pediatrics, family medicine and human genetics
Ginger Osman reported the theft last year. Elias said Osman was
only one of the people who reported the theft.

According to a UCLA procedure on the misappropriation of
university assets by university academic, staff or student
employees that became effective in 1998, “the University has
a fiduciary responsibility to pursue criminal prosecution to the
fullest extent possible.”

Elias said UCPD would present the case to the Los Angeles County
District Attorney’s office after the investigation was
complete, but said it is difficult to speculate on the type of
punishment the suspect could face.

Factors including the amount of theft, past criminal history and
whether the suspect is cooperative with police could determine the
level of consequence, Elias said.

Director of UCLA’s Audit and Advisory Services Edwin
Pierce said he did not want to comment on the ongoing investigation
or divulge how his department is conducting its investigation.

According to the same policy on university assets, Pierce is
responsible to “coordinate all review and follow-up actions
required in alleged misappropriation cases.” These actions
include identifying all of the losses, creating a plan to prevent
additional losses and helping recover the stolen assets, among
others.

Pierce said embezzlement is not a widespread problem at UCLA and
that many of the incidents are reported through the whistle-blower
hotline, a service that directs complaints and reports of illegal
or improper conduct to a third party investigator.

Reporting suspected improper activity is the most important act
that can help police, who lack the resources to oversee all campus
activities and transactions, Elias said.

“That’s why places like the university have a design
for whistle-blowing,” Elias said. “In these types of
cases, that’s what police depend on.”

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