Ex-Chairman for Christian Science Church in Los Angeles Arrested on Indictment Alleging $11.5M Bank

[TexasTowelie]

Ex-Chairman for Christian Science Church in Los Angeles Arrested on Indictment Alleging $11.5 Million Bank and Wire Fraud


LOS ANGELES – The former chairman of the board for the Fifth Church of Christ, Scientist, of Los Angeles was arrested today on a federal grand jury indictment charging him with fraud for stealing more than $11 million in church money and using it to purchase a home, a membership at Disneyland’s exclusive dining club, and other personal expenses.

Charles Thomas Sebesta, 54, of Huntington Beach, is expected to make his initial court appearance this afternoon in United States District Court in Los Angeles. Sebesta has been charged with six counts of wire fraud, five counts of bank fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft.

According to the indictment unsealed today, Sebesta was hired in 2001 as the church’s facilities manager and ultimately joined the church in 2005 and served as its local chairman. In this capacity, he had control over the church’s financial assets and operations, including at least five of its bank accounts, the indictment states.

From at least August 2006 through December 2016, Sebesta allegedly caused the church to make checks and other payments to fictitious companies for which he had opened bank accounts, as well as to accounts in his own name and in the names of his family members. To further conceal these payments, Sebesta allegedly forged a church member’s signature on numerous checks drawn against the church’s bank accounts.

Read more: https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/ex-chairman-christian-science-church-los-angeles-arrested-indictment-alleging-115