It’s a game night for Aliso Niguel High School in Southern California, but this Friday, the booster club’s website posted a stark message about a former club officer indicted on charges of stealing more than $400,000 raised for the team.Smack above photos of players in uniform and the rally slogan “Football First, Family Always and Community Forever,” the Wolverine Football Club posted: “We are aware of the recent developments regarding the former treasurer.
We have been cooperating fully with law enforcement throughout this process and will continue to do so.”The former treasurer, Julie Hanway Molina, was arrested Thursday at her home in Aliso Viejo in Orange County, California.She was arraigned in federal court on charges of defrauding the Wolverine Football Club, Ciaran McEvoy, spokesman for the U.S Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, told NBC News on Friday.
Molina, 56, pleaded not guilty and was released on $10,000 bond, McEvoy said.The indictment only identifies the organization that was defrauded as a not-for-profit volunteer organization whose purpose was to “promote and enhance a high school football program through responsibly raising and managing funds, coordinating effective team-building activities, and supporting all student players’ growth and development.” “We’re going after all fraud, big or small,” Bill Essayli, first assistant U.S.
attorney for the Central District of California, said in a social media posting.Essayli told KTLA-5 in Los Angeles that Molina is a professional CPA, raising concerns among investigators about whether there are other victims.
He warned that others who have done business with her “should check their books.” Essayli acknowledged to NBC Los Angeles that the case isn’t one that involves a large sum of money, “but this is a big deal to the local community.That was a lot of money that those students and parents worked hard to raise.” His office said in a statement...