LOS ANGELES _ The former deputy treasurer for the city of Compton was arrested Wednesday by federal authorities and has been charged with stealing millions of dollars in city funds, prosecutors announced Wednesday.
Salvador Galvan, 47, of La Mirada is accused of embezzling more than $3.7 million over more than six years by skimming money from routine city payments, federal officials said.
According to the criminal complaint, Galvan would siphon anywhere between $200 to $8,000 a day from funds collected through parking tickets, business license fees and other city services.
Galvan initially was arrested by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department in December after City Treasurer Doug Sanders noticed "suspicious activity" in a ledger and Galvan confessed to the thefts, the Los Angeles Times reported last year. Galvan then posted bond and was free until Wednesday, when he was taken into custody by federal authorities.
Galvan has worked since 1994 in the Compton treasurer's office, where he was responsible for handling cash, city officials said. As part of his duties, he collected money from residents paying their water bills, business licenses, building permits and trash bills.
While Galvan maintained accurate receipts of the cash he received for city fees, he would submit a lower amount to the city's deposit records and, ultimately, on the deposit slips verified by his supervisors and the banks, federal officials said.
An audit that compared a computer-generated spreadsheet tracking money coming into the city with documents Galvan prepared showed that he started skimming cash in 2010 and that it grew with time, according to court records.
The first thefts were detected in May 2010 and amounted to $1,400, Galvan's criminal complaint alleges. The skimming remained about the same amount until November, when it jumped to more than $12,000, records show.
In the months and years to follow, the losses mounted. Galvan is accused of stealing $395,824 in 2012 and $719,345 in 2013. The biggest loss was in 2015, when $879,536 was unaccounted for in the city's books, court documents show.
It was one of Galvan's vigilant coworkers who first noticed a $7,000 discrepancy that broke the case, according to court records. When Galvan was confronted, he confessed and was arrested soon afterward.
Investigators said in court documents that Galvan told his boss "something to the effect (of), 'Desperate times call for desperate measures' and that he had to be a man, so he took the money to save his son's house because he did not want his grandson out in the street."
Despite his $60,000-a-year salary, Galvan enjoyed a more affluent lifestyle, which coworkers appeared to notice, federal officials said.
Galvan's supervisor spoke with FBI agents and "reflected about Galvan's time in the office, his unexplained affluence and his generosity," federal prosecutors said.
Colleagues told investigators that Galvan always had the newest cellphone and cash on hand. He paid for office parties, bought gift cards for cashiers and bought the office a Keurig coffee machine and boxes of K-cup coffee pods for it, documents show. They noted that Galvan started at work with an old Toyota and moved up to a black Audi sedan during his employment with the city, officials said.
A search of Galvan's home turned up 72-inch flat-screen TVs in three bedrooms plus a living room, as well as 20 pairs of Ugg shoes that belonged to his wife and daughter, the criminal complaint shows.
Receipts for a $1,500 Ortho mattress, a contract for a relative's tuition at a makeup academy and estimates for plastic surgery for Galvan's wife also were found, authorities said.
The FBI's case stemmed from the Sheriff's Department arrest late last year, officials said.
Galvan faces a maximum of five years in federal prison if convicted. He's due in federal court Wednesday afternoon.
When Galvan was arrested in December, Compton Mayor Aja Brown lamented the effect these types of cases have on the public's psyche.
"Unfortunately, the actions of one employee can challenge the public's trust that we strive daily to rebuild," Brown said. "The alleged embezzlement and theft of public funds is an egregious affront to the residents of Compton and our dedicated employees."
