Crime & Safety

Lake Elsinore Man Admits to Embezzling From Santa Ana Church

Fiatala Manu, 47, embezzled about $113,000 from First Samoan Christian Congregational Church, according to prosecutors.

A Lake Elsinore man pleaded guilty today to embezzling more than $110,000 from a Santa Ana church where he worked as a treasurer and was immediately sentenced to a year in jail and ordered to pay back what he stole in restitution.

Fiatala Manu, 47, worked as an interim treasurer at First Samoan Christian Congregational Church from October 2011 through August of last year, according to the Orange County District Attorney's Office.

Manu embezzled about $113,000, including $96,000 set aside for the construction of a new church, according to prosecutors. He also laundered embezzled funds he had deposited into his personal bank account by withdrawing cash and making purchases at an Indian gaming casino, prosecutors said.

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Manu covered his tracks with falsified financial reports, but an assistant treasurer assigned to monitor various church accounts uncovered the thievery in July 2012, according to prosecutors.

—City News Service

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