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| | State Fund Backs Crooked Employee into a Cell
By Robert Warne - December 17, 2002An ex-State Compensation Insurance Fund (State Fund) employee has been recognized for his interpreting business success that translated over 600,000 fraudulent dollars into his pocket book. For his hard work, Rodolpho Gaona received the Los Angeles county jail holiday package that will now cost him $500,000 to check out of.
Gaona, also known as Norberto Munoz—with the help of Courtney Aplas, a State Fund auditor—drained an estimated $619,000 from State Fund between 1993 and 1995. It wasn’t until 1999 during a routine audit that State Fund uncovered the interpreting scheme.
According to investigators, within a year of State Fund hiring Gaona in 1986, he was promoted into the supervisor position that later served as his platform of action. As a supervisor in the Key Data Operator's Office he oversaw the issuing of checks to vendors and claimants and the data input related to the transactions. Gaona set up his interpretation business named Americas Interpreting Services in 1990, according to investigators.
Then starting in November 1993 and continuing through March 10, 1995, Gaona allegedly issued over $475,000 in checks to his business for services never performed. Gaona teamed up with Aplas between January 19, 1994 and May 5, 1994 to take State Fund for an additional $93,000. It was during this time frame that Aplas started her own sham translation business. It was reported that the day after she filed a fictitious business name statement, checks started flowing in, courtesy of Gaona, for services not performed.
The Los Angeles District Attorney's Office filed a complaint with the Los Angeles County Superior Court charging both suspects with grand theft, conspiracy, theft by computer and theft by a public official. If convicted, both suspects could be sentenced to prison for up to three years and be required to perform community service and pay restitution.
Aplas was arrested Dec. 12 and Gaona was arrested Nov. 27. Ganoa’s next scheduled date before the judge is Dec. 23. |
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