Volunteer accused of embezzling $1.2 million from merchant seaman group, soccer league
A former volunteer treasurer for a merchant seaman organization in Long Beach and a youth soccer league in Anaheim was arrested today on charges of embezzling more than $1 million.
Jose Antonio Urrutia, 64, of Placentia, was charged Wednesday with 167 counts of forgery and 14 counts of grand theft, with sentencing-enhancement allegations of property damage exceeding $200,000 and aggravated white-collar crime of more than $500,000.
Urrutia, who is scheduled to be arraigned Friday, could face up to 130 years in prison if convicted of the felony charges.
The defendant is a licensed certified public accountant, said Senior Deputy District Attorney Marc Labreche. During the time of the alleged embezzlement, he was a volunteer treasurer for the Junior United Soccer Association of Anaheim and the International Seafarers Center in Long Beach, which is “kind of a USO” for merchant seamen in the Long Beach port, Labreche said.
Read more: https://lbpost.com/news/crime/volunteer-treasurer-embezzlement/
