An 8-year employee of the city of Santa Clarita was arrested Tuesday following an extensive investigation by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
David Rubira was charged with felony misappropriation of public funds. Rubira admitted to the crimes during questioning which occurred prior to his arrest today.
The city has been fully cooperating with the ongoing investigation and began an internal investigation immediately.
Based on that investigation, it appears that Rubira, 40, an assistant engineer for the city, fabricated check requests estimated at $531,037 over a four-year period. The crime was reported to the Sheriff’s crime tip hotline in May, and investigated immediately.
The city has brought in outside auditors to begin an extensive forensic audit. Based on the current investigation, it appears Rubira acted alone.
“Our community has a high level of trust for our city and this action goes against everything our city has stood for. Our intent is to see that Rubira is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” said Ken Striplin, City Manager.
Rubira oversaw developer funds deposited as part of the permit entitlement process. These funds were required by the city and were held pending completion of required work by developers as part of their projects in the city. Upon completion of the work required, developers could request a refund of their deposits. Rubira appears to have manipulated city documents/paperwork to avoid detection and perpetrate the fraud.
The city of Santa Clarita carries a $1 million fraud policy which the city is pursuing. The city also intends to pursue restitution should Rubira be convicted.
Rubira has been placed on administrative leave pending termination proceedings.
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3 Comments
They didn’t even notice half a million dollars missing ? They had no audit or checks in process ? They only found out from a tip ?
Who cares, it’s not their money.
They should be fired.
His bail is $25,000 for embezzling $531K
from the city, a government agency.
He is still collecting his pay.
In another story a lady was embezzling $185K,
from a private company, and her bail is $120K. She was fired on the spot and still is in jail.
What’s wrong with this?
Folks – your City staff at work in full CYA mode now. Our City Manager happens to mention they are covered with Fraud Insurance. Okay, they are going to make a claim and the insurance company will investigate and if they find — as they likely will — that the City did not have correct policies and procedures in place; or violated its own policies and procedures for handling payments out of these accounts — they likely will have their claim denied. But, will that ever get reported? Ken Striplin said this to give folks a false sense of security that the funds will be replaced through an insurance claim. I doubt it.