VENTURA : Ex-Drug Clinic Head Convicted of Fraud

The former head of a Ventura drug- and alcohol-treatment program was convicted Wednesday of four counts of submitting false claims to obtain county grant money.

Thomas E. Chaloupka, 48, had admitted to the Ventura County Superior Court jury that he turned in four false claim forms, which resulted in payment of $20,000 to his Khepera House treatment program. But Chaloupka insisted that he was only following the instructions of county officials who did not want to see the money returned to the state.

His attorney, William O’Neill III, also argued that there was no proof that Chaloupka had personally profited from the payments, which were supposed to go for repairs, furniture and other amenities.

But Deputy Dist. Atty. James P. Cloninger argued that there was evidence that Chaloupka “treated this organization as his own personal piggy bank.” Even if all the money was used by the program, the prosecutor said, Chaloupka still obtained it fraudulently. Chaloupka, who no longer directs the program, faces up to three years in prison. Judge Charles R. McGrath allowed him to remain free on $5,000 bail until his sentencing Oct. 28.