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WGBPA files embezzle complaint with police
Waligore: $11,682 appears missing
By Kate Carter
Willow Glen Business and Professional Association President Bob Waligore filed a complaint with San Jose Police Feb. 22 claiming suspected embezzlement by the association's former business manager, Demetri Rizos.
Waligore and members of the association's board have been looking into possible embezzlement by Rizos for nearly a year. Last month, they received 56 checks dating back almost two years that they had requested from their Bank of America account to compare them to "questionable transactions" written into the association's ledger.
"We've been reviewing the books," Waligore said, "and there are several transactions that don't match the check ledger.
He said the complaint filed was "based on what appears to be embezzlement."
A San Jose Police spokesman said the department would forward the complaint to the fraud unit.
Rizos did not return phone calls made to his home.
Waligore said many of the payees and amounts on checks returned by the bank did not match what was recorded in the association's ledger. He added that nothing in the association's records would justify some of the expenditures.
So far, he said he found 57 transactions totaling $11,682.97 in association money that could have been used for non-association purposes. He added that they are requesting 33 more checks from the bank.
"What we're really dealing with now is city money," Waligore said. "In some respects, it's more serious than I originally thought. There's this really big question about how the money was spent."
Waligore said the questionable transactions were made with grant money the association receives from the city's office of cultural affairs. The money is used to fund events such as Dancin' on the Avenue and Founders Day, he said.
Waligore said he initially suspected that the money was taken from the association's business investment district funds. However, the city's office of economic development, which oversees the distribution of those funds, confirmed that no questionable receipts had been submitted for reimbursement.
Although Waligore will no longer be the association's president after March 1, he said he will continue to head up its investigation.
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
