Former Controller for Stockton Corporation Arrested for Embezzling More Than $950,000

SACRAMENTO, CA—Chris Barna, 33, of Manteca, was arrested today for a 20-count indictment brought by a grand jury on November 21, 2012, charging him with 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 Attorney S. Robert Tice-Raskin is prosecuting the case.

According to court documents, Barna was the controller for M & C, which provided association management and developer services to community associations in Northern California. Barna was responsible for the company’s account and collections departments. According to the indictment, from April 2008 through May 2011, Barna misappropriated approximately 342 checks that were payable to M & C or its parent company from third parties or payable to third parties from M & C. Barna forged false endorsements of the payee on certain checks and endorsed them as “deposit only” or similarly. He deposited these checks into various bank accounts he controlled at Wells Fargo Bank even though the checks were not his rightful property, he had no authority to negotiate the checks, and he had no right to the proceeds of the checks. Barna then manipulated financial records at M & C to conceal the fraud. Barna used proceeds of the fraud to pay for a series of his own personal obligations and expenses.

At his initial appearance, U.S. Magistrate Judge Kendall J. Newman released Barna on a $200,000 bond. He was ordered to appear for a status conference on January 14, 2013, before Senior United States District Judge William B. Shubb.

If convicted, Barna faces a maximum statutory penalty of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine for each count. Any sentence, however, would 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.

The charges are only allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.