After being charged in November on suspicion of stealing $1.4 million from Goodwill Industries, its former leader and chief executive officer was charged with additional counts of embezzlement from two other nonprofits April 4, the United States Attorney’s Office Eastern District of California announced.
In total, Richard Alan Abrusci, 45, of South Lake Tahoe now has been charged with 12 counts of wire fraud, one count of aggravated identity theft and three counts of monetary transactions with proceeds of specified unlawful activity, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert said in the statement.
Mr. Abrusci allegedly embezzled $1.4 million from 2016 to 2022 from Goodwill Industries of Sacramento Valley and Northern Nevada while he served as its leader and chief executive officer, authorities said.
On Thursday, a federal grand jury returned more charges, specifically from December 2022 to January 2023, that Mr. Abrusci also allegedly embezzled $100,000 from another nonprofit—that connects other nonprofits across California with community members and public services—while he was serving as chairman of its board of directors, and $50,000 from a third nonprofit, where he also had a leadership role, that pairs children with adult mentors.
Authorities said Mr. Abrusci used the same method to embezzle the money in all three cases by making the organizations pay a fictitious business Mr. Abrusci created for services that were never performed.
According to officials, the nonprofits each paid the business—called Resolution Arrangement Services—for a variety of services they believed had been performed, but never were.
The Attorney’s Office said the payments went directly to Mr. Abrusci’s bank account.
Authorities said Mr. Abrusci could spend up to 20 years in jail if convicted and be ordered to pay a $250,000 fine for each of the 12 wire fraud counts and up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each of his three monetary transactions with proceeds of specified unlawful activity counts.
