Anaheim police union worker due in court in embezzlement case

 

For five years, while Cindy Ann Su'a was the Anaheim police union's officer manager, she quietly stole more than $360,000 from the organization's accounts, prosecutors say.

She altered her paychecks, sometimes doubling her pay, and paid her bills from the Anaheim Police Assn.'s bank accounts, Senior Deputy Dist. Atty. Marc Labreche said.

"She was stealing our money and hiding the mail so we'd never find out … it was a shock," said Kerry Condon, the union president and a veteran homicide detective who prosecutors say uncovered the alleged scheme.

Su'a, 46, of Whittier was arrested and charged Wednesday with 117 counts of forgery, 23 counts of computer access fraud and two counts of willful failure to file tax returns. She could face up to 99 years in prison.

Her husband, John Su'a, 46, is charged with two counts of willful failure to file tax returns.

Su'a first joined the union in 2004 and then two years later became the office manager, responsible for all check-writing, company credit cards and bookkeeping, earning $65,000 a year as its sole employee.

Detectives uncovered a scheme in which she allegedly use a typewriter correction feature to change her bimonthly payment amount from $2,489 to $5,489 or $6,489, according to prosecutors.

In one year she is accused of fraudulently paying herself nearly $200,000.

Su'a was being held in lieu of $360,000 bail Wednesday. Prosecutors are requiring that she prove that any bail money comes from legal and legitimate sources. She is expected to be arraigned Thursday in Santa Ana.

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