On Friday, September 29, 2017, a former employee with the Glendale City Attorney’s Office agreed to plead guilty to embezzling $609,764 that was obtained by creating documents to make it seem like the money was being used to pay civil claims against the city. 53-year-old Cassandra Alexander of Los Angeles was charged with a single count of theft from an organization receiving federal funds.
Alexander has agreed to plead guilty to that felony offense. During her time with the Glendale City Attorney’s Office, Alexander served as a claims and litigation support supervisor. She was responsible for creating “Settlement Packets” that would be used to resolve claims against the city for personal injury or property damage.
Each packet would normally contain approval of the settlement by the City’s Attorney and City Council and authorization for the city’s Finance Department to issue payment to the claimant. Alexander had unlimited authority to sign documents instructing the Finance Department to use checks. The defendant was also responsible for picking up the checks and delivering them to the claimants’ attorneys.
According to the plea agreement, starting in July of 2001 until March of 2017, the defendant created and submitted fraudulent Settlement Packages causing the Finance Department to issue 30 checks to her family members and acquaintances. She also created false settlement agreements and fake City Council meeting minutes.
After the checks were issued, the defendant took them and delivered them to the payees. They were then cashed and the money was transferred to Alexander. At one point, Glendale Police seized a check for $82,500 from Alexander. It was made payable to a family member.
The defendant will receive a summons instructing her to appear in court for arraignment sometime in the coming weeks. She will face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.