Ex-CFO of California nonprofit jailed for 30 months on embezzlement charges

The former finance director of the nonprofit La Jolla Music Society has been sentenced to 30 months in prison for embezzling pay raises from employees over a 10-year period, the Department of Justice (DoJ) said. The 52-year-old pleaded guilty to wire fraud charges earlier this year.

In a press release issued Thursday, the Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California said Chris Benavides embezzled more than $650,000 from the La Jolla Music Society, a nonprofit organization based in La Jolla, California. The press release said that while overseeing the organization’s budgeting process and human resources, Benavides “stole an average of about $65,000 a year for himself.”

For ten years, Benavide’s “larceny became increasingly sophisticated,” according to the prosecutor’s press release. Benavides reportedly “regularly claimed that many employee pay rises were not possible due to budgetary constraints.” He went on to plan his theft “on a regular basis” “before each fiscal year,” budgeting the amount he would undertake over the next 12 months and embedding those expenses into various budget lines.

The La Jolla Music Society sued Benavides in February, local news site Times of San Diego reported. At the time, prosecutors said Benavides used the company’s funds for personal use, such as credit card payments and even mortgages, between October 2011 and February 2021.

The lawsuit filed against Benavides in February said he wrote “dozens” of checks to himself, KFMB-TV reported. He also fabricated the La Jolla Music Society’s accounting records to appear as approved organizational expenses, the lawsuit alleges.

The board treasurer first discovered that at least 9 payments on Benavides’ mortgage were made through the nonprofit’s accounts, the lawsuit says. The board then launched an internal investigation, which then resulted in the removal of Benavides from the organization and the lawsuit.

During the sentencing hearing, La Jolla Music Society President and CEO Todd Schultz said that Benavides was in no way financially bound when he committed the theft of organization funds, adding that Benavides earned a six-figure salary, The San Diego reported Union-Tribune. “He didn’t have to steal. He wanted to steal,” Schultz said.

US District Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo also said during Benavides’ sentencing that the embezzlement “is much more egregious when a nonprofit organization is involved.” Bencivengo handed Benavides a 30-month jail sentence – more than the 2-year sentence originally requested by prosecutors.

Music students have given up their instruments at their university with a heavy heart
Photo: AFP / WAKIL KOHSAR