D.A. charges Rep. Rohrabacher’s ex-campaign treasurer with embezzlement
A former campaign treasurer for Rep. Dana Rohrabacher was arrested Tuesday and charged with embezzling more than $300,000 from his former employer and the Costa Mesa congressman’s reelection committee, according to the Orange County district attorney’s office.
Jack Wu, 45, of Newport Beach, is accused of stealing more than $238,000 from Rohrabacher’s campaign, for which he volunteered for seven years.
Wu has been a longtime presence in local Republican politics and recently held a position on Newport Beach’s Finance Committee, which advises the City Council on budget issues.
He could face up to 20 years and four months in prison if convicted of three felony counts of grand theft by embezzlement, 21 felony counts of forgery and sentencing enhancements of theft exceeding $100,000, aggravated white collar crime over $100,000 and property loss over $200,000.
His arraignment is scheduled for Wednesday.
From 2008 to 2013, Wu was a controller for Russell Fischer Inc., where he handled accounts receivable, accounts payable and some payroll duties, according to the district attorney’s office.
Wu was paid a $70,000 salary until March 2012, when he became an independent contractor for Russell Fischer while running his own accounting company, Wubell Services, prosecutors said.
At that point, Wu started receiving $2,000 every two weeks for his work at Russell Fischer but also kept taking his original salary, prosecutors said. Wu is suspected of collecting $71,000 in unauthorized pay between June 2012 and September 2013.
In addition, prosecutors allege Wu issued an extra $12,000 in unauthorized payments to his company from Russell Fischer in 2013.
Russell Fischer fired Wu in September 2013 after discovering the $83,000 in unauthorized outlays, prosecutors said.
Authorities allege Wu tried to repay at least some of the amount with money from Rohrabacher’s campaign fund.
Prosecutors did not detail when they believe Wu took the campaign money, but they said the campaign discovered in May last year that money had been stolen when a manager tried to use one of the committee’s debit cards and discovered $170,000 was missing when the transaction was denied.
Wu was responsible for managing the committee’s bank account, paying its taxes and filing Federal Election Commission reports, according to the district attorney’s office.
Wu was fired from the campaign in May. At the time, Rohrabacher’s office released a statement saying Wu had admitted to embezzlement.
Wu could not be reached for comment Tuesday. He previously has declined to comment about the Republican congressman’s accusations.
Wu has run unsuccessfully for several public offices, including the Irvine City Council in 1998, the Irvine Ranch Water District board in 2002 and the Newport Beach City Council in 2006.
He also has written freelance political columns for the Daily Pilot, the Newport Beach Independent and the Orange County Register.
