Clinic worker charged with fraud, forgery

Police say an employee of a northeast Albuquerque injury rehab clinic embezzled more than half a million dollars of the clinic’s money — over a five-year period — for his personal use.

Arturo Archuleta Jr., 46, is charged with embezzlement over $20,000, fraud over $20,000 and forgery over $20,000 in connection to the defrauding of Archuleta’s employer, ABQ Injury Clinic, of almost $550,000 between 2013 and 2018.

Court records indicate that this is the third time Archuleta has faced charges of either forgery, embezzlement or fraud in the last seven years.

According to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan court, the owner of ABQ Injury Clinic, Joseph Wilson, called police to report Archuleta’s actions in late May.

Wilson told police Archuleta was hired in 2013 as a contract wage employee and consultant for the clinic — which provides medical treatment, chiropractic and physical therapy services — and suspicions arose after the clinic didn’t meet their operational expectations for the first few months of 2018.

Police say Wilson found out through several clients that Archuleta had been taking their payments but cashing the checks into his personal account instead of the company’s.

Wilson told police he calculated over $300,000 missing from the company — between 2014 and 2018 — and confronted Archuleta.

According to the complaint, investigators discovered Archuleta had set up an account with a similar name to the clinic’s, ABQ Injury Centers, that allowed him to successfully deposit close to $550,000 in checks meant for the clinic since he was hired in 2013.