The previous director of finance for the La Jolla Music Society was sentenced Thursday to 30 months in jail for embezzling greater than $650,000 from the nonprofit over the course of practically a decade.
Chris Benavides, 52, pleaded responsible earlier this 12 months to a federal wire fraud depend for stealing from the nonprofit between October 2011 and February 2021.
In keeping with the U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace, Benavides used the stolen funds to pay his mortgage, bank cards, utility payments and different private bills.
Prosecutors say he issued unauthorized checks to himself, then altered the corporate’s accounting information to make the funds look like for reputable enterprise bills.
Benavides was fired by the La Jolla Music Society final 12 months and the corporate reported the embezzlement to police. The group has since filed a lawsuit in opposition to him alleging fraud and different causes of motion.
A number of members of the La Jolla Music Society attended Benavides’ sentencing listening to, together with its president and CEO Todd Schultz, who stated the defendant “systematically” stole from the group over the decade-long interval and at occasions, denied raises to workers as a result of he claimed funds weren’t accessible.
Schultz stated the group believes the theft began sooner than 2010, however the nonprofit’s information don’t return far sufficient to show it.
He additionally famous that Benavides was making a six-figure wage and his theft was not dedicated out of desperation or on account of being in dire monetary straits.
“He didn’t should steal. He needed to steal,” Schultz stated.
Steve Baum, chair of the nonprofit’s board of administrators, stated the group is “comparatively small” and operates “like a household.” As a result of tight-knit nature of the nonprofit, “individuals have been actually heartbroken” when the theft got here to gentle, Baum stated.
Benavides informed U.S. District Choose Cathy Ann Bencivengo, “I’m ashamed of what I’ve performed” and that he has since misplaced the belief of many mates “all due to my poor choices.”
The decide, who imposed the next sentence than the 24 months requested by the prosecution, excoriated Benavides, saying that such a embezzlement is “far more egregious when a nonprofit is concerned.”
Along with custody, the decide issued a preliminary order to pay $650,000 in restitution to the nonprofit.
–Metropolis Information Service
