Man Accused In $180,000 Embezzlement Scheme Against Construction Company
SANTA ANA (CBSLA) -- A Brea man pleaded not guilty on Friday after being accused in a $180,000 embezzlement scheme against a construction company.
28-year-old Luis Edwin Perez, who had worked for Peterson Brotherson Construction Inc. in Brea since 2015, is accused of faking duplicate invoices and using the funds for personal purchases.
He is accused of doing this since February 2019, and it was brought to police's attention in January 2020 when an accountant noticed a payment to Beverly Hill-based ticket sales company, Ticketmaster.
Along with Ticketmaster, Perez allegedly used the money to fund purchases from Apple, Seatgeek and Stubhub, according to Brea Police Department Detective Alfred Rodriguez.
When confronted about the transactions, police said Perez resigned and later admitted to the actions in an email.
"Perez has sent an email to the company's CEO apologizing and explaining how he did this and also admitted his actions to the original Brea (police) investigator,'' Rodriguez said.
Perez is charged with a dozen felony counts of grand theft by embezzlement with sentencing enhancement allegations of aggravated white collar crime between $100,000 and $500,000.
He is set to return to court on December 28 for a pre-trial hearing.
(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)
