May 06--The former financial services manager for Placentia pleaded not guilty on Friday to charges of embezzling $4.3 million from the cash-strapped city.
Michael Minh Nguyen appeared briefly on video in a courtroom at the Central Men's Jail in Santa Ana, where he remains in custody in lieu of $4.3 million bail -- the same amount he is accused of stealing.
Nguyen, who started working in Placentia in 2008, has been charged with 17 felony counts of misappropriating public funds and so far authorities say they have recovered nearly $1.5 million of the missing money. City officials say they believe he manipulated computer software, altering bank ledgers to prevent them from discovering his alleged crime.
Prosecutors accuse Nguyen of making 17 illegal wire transfers, using city funds, between April 2015 to April 2016. After federal officials alerted city officials of the suspicious activity last month, Nguyen, an Irvine resident, lost his job.
A pretrial hearing for Nguyen has been scheduled for June 17 at the North Justice Center in Fullerton. Authorities are still trying to determine if more money was taken from the city. City leaders have hired a forensic auditing firm to review the wire transfers and to boost Placentia's financial controls.
anh.do@latimes.com
Twitter: @newsterrier
