Stockton Corporation Controller Pleads Guilty to Embezzling More Than $950,000

SACRAMENTO, CA—Chris Barna, 35, of Manteca, pleaded guilty today to one count of bank fraud for his role in embezzling more than $950,000 from his employer M & C Association Management Services Inc., United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorneys S. Robert Tice-Raskin and Kevin Khasigian are prosecuting the case.

According to court documents, Barna was the controller for M & C, a company that provides community association management and developer services to numerous community associations in in Northern California. From April 2007 through May 2011, Barna misappropriated approximately 300 checks payable to M & C from third parties, 40 checks payable to third parties from M & C, and two checks payable to the parent company of M & C. Barna forged the endorsements on the checks or wrote “deposit only.” He had the checks deposited into various bank accounts he controlled at Wells Fargo Bank. Barna then manipulated financial accounting records at M & C as part of an effort to conceal the fraud.

As part of the plea agreement, Barna agreed to pay full restitution to M & C and to forfeit his residence in Manteca. He had used some of the proceeds of the fraud to pay down the mortgage of the house.

Barna is scheduled to be sentenced by United States District Judge Troy L. Nunley on August 22, 2013, at 9:30 a.m. He faces a maximum statutory penalty of 30 years in prison and a $2 million fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.