Overtime scheme: Six former CHP officers from East LA station charged with fraud
LOS ANGELES - Six former California Highway Patrol officers are facing charges for their alleged involvement in a multi-year overtime fraud scheme.
The charges, filed Thursday by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, are the result of an internal criminal investigation that looked into whether officers at the East Los Angeles station were exaggerating the number of overtime hours they worked.
CHP launched their investigation in May of 2018. According to a statement from the Attorney General, between January 1, 2016 and March 31, 2018 multiple officers in the East LA station were "suspected of recording additional overtime hours when they were assigned to provide protection detail for Caltrans workers through the Maintenance Zone Enhanced Enforcement Program or the Construction Zone Enhanced Enforcement Program".
It was determined that some officers allegedly recorded and received pay for eight hours of overtime rather than the three or four hours they actually worked.
According to the Attorney General, the officers allegedly claimed over $23,000 in fraudulent overtime hours.
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"Trust is a fundamental part of effective law enforcement," said Attorney General Bonta. "Californians should be able to depend on CHP officers to keep our roads and highways safe, and when officers don't adhere to the law themselves, it erodes our communities' trust. I applaud CHP for taking action to investigate and seek accountability for those officers who have allegedly broken the public’s trust."
The six former officers face a total of 97 counts, including one count each of grand theft and multiple counts of presentation of a fraudulent claim.
The former officers facing charges are:
- Edmund Zorrilla, who is charged with one count of grand theft and 26 counts of presentation of a false claim between January 2016 and August 2016;
- Giovanni Bembi, who is charged with one count of grand theft and 21 counts of presentation of a false claim between January 2016 and January 2017;
- Luis Manuel Mendoza, who is charged with one count of grand theft and 15 counts of presentation of a false claim between March 2016 and January 2017;
- William Matthew Fountain, who is charged with one count of grand theft and 13 counts of presentation of a false claim between January 2016 and June 2017;
- Connie Marie Guzman, who is charged with one count of grand theft and 12 counts of presentation of a false claim between March 2016 and July 2017; and
- William Preciado, who is charged with one count of grand theft and four counts of presentation of a false claim between August 2016 and December 2017.
It was not immediately clear when the six former officers would be arraigned.
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