Santa Barbara man sentenced for Ponzi scheme
A Santa Barbara man was sentenced Oct. 11 to 11 years in federal prison and ordered to pay restitution to victims in a $14 million Ponzi scheme. Darrell Arnold Aviss, 64, was sentenced in federal court in Los Angeles. He had pleaded guilty in June to 21 felonies, including wire fraud, tax evasion, failure to Read More →
Former Thousand Oaks man arrested on fraud charges
A former Thousand Oaks resident who wrote a pamphlet warning of the dangers of drunken driving has been charged with numerous felonies including grand theft and money laundering, related to investments he solicited in his book project. George Ronald Russell, 65, was arrested in Nevada on April 1 by deputies with the Douglas County Sheriff’s Read More →
Santa Barbara property manager charged with embezzlement
A property manager in Santa Barbara has been charged with felony embezzlement of his clients, the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office announced July 15. Adam Michael Pirozzi, 40, faces charges of embezzlement, elder abuse and money laundering, as well as a white collar crime enhancement because he is accused of taking more than $500,000. Read More →
Bookkeeper sentenced in embezzlement cases
Laura Leonard, a Simi Valley office manager and bookkeeper who was convicted of grand theft and embezzlement, was sentenced April 28 to three years and eight months in prison and ordered to pay restitution. Leonard was an office manager for Simi Valley-based Protek CNC Sales. The company discovered she was embezzling funds in 2019, and Read More →
Charges filed in Wolfe & Associates hacking case
Felony charges were filed Aug. 12 against six people suspected of hacking into the computer networks of Wolfe & Associates, a Santa Barbara-based property management firm, as part of an unemployment insurance fraud scheme. The suspects—Gordon Alan Welteren, Nicole Michelle Milan, William Lee Gormley and Christina Renata Hesler of San Diego; David Zarate of Oxnard; Read More →
