WESTWOOD—The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced on Monday, July 26 that a former fund manager at UCLA’s history department pled no contest to stealing over $300,000 from the school with fraudulent purchase orders and travel reimbursements.
“Public employees have a financial responsibility to the people they serve,” said District Attorney George Gascón. “This criminal conduct drained resources from the history department that could have been used to benefit students and fulfill the university’s academic mission.”
Diana Fonseca, 37, of Carson pleaded no contest to six felony counts of grand theft and admitted to the special allegation of aggravated white-collar crime. Part of her plea deal requires her to pay full restitution, in the amount $336,000, to UCLA for the stolen funds.
On July 26, 2018, officials at the university’s history department discovered Fonseca created fraudulent purchase orders for electronic equipment. From May 2013 and October 2017, Fonseca submitted 45 separate fraudulent travel reimbursements for herself. All the funds went to her personal checking account.
She is scheduled to be sentenced on November 1 in Department 50 of the Foltz Criminal Justice Center. The case was investigated by the UCLA Police Department.
