Former Secretary and Chairman of the United Firefighters of Los Angeles City, Adam Walker, was charged with stealing over $80,000 from the nonprofit during a 2-year period
California Attorney General Rob Bonta and the Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced the arrest and criminal charges against former union worker Adam Walker on Wednesday morning. The multi-agency investigation between the California Attorney General and the Los Angeles County District Attorney found that Walker stole $82,914.24 and transferred it into his personal Foundation bank account.
“The California Department of Justice will vigorously prosecute corruption at every turn and hold accountable those who break the law and the trust placed in them by the public,” Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a press release. “I am thankful for the hard work of our DOJ team and our partners at LADA over the course of this investigation.”
Walker had opened the accounts as the sole signer, transferred the funds into his personal account using intrabank transfers, fabricating personal credit card reimbursements and forging fake receipts to cover any suspicions of theft from auditors.
“While the case is ongoing, any allegations of felony grand theft are deeply troubling and taken very seriously,” Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement. “I’ve spoken with Chief Moore, and I want to thank our state and local law enforcement partners for their work to hold this person — and anyone who commits crime — accountable.”
This is not the first time that the UFLAC has gotten in trouble for financial fraud. Former President of the UFLAC, Freddy Escobar, was suspended from his position following accusations of financial malpractice. During his time as president, the parent union of the UFLAC claimed Escobar spent over $265,000 without proper documentation that the money was spent on union business.
This story is breaking, more updates to come