Chico man is sentenced for embezzling from Little Red Hen
OROVILLE >> Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey announced Friday that a Chico man was sentenced in Butte County Superior Court on Thursday to probation and jail time for embezzling money from a local nonprofit, Little Red Hen Plant Nursery, and taking money from a dependent adult who worked there.
In sentencing Andrew Spang, 34, of Chico, to 120 days in jail and two years probation, the judge considered his clean record.
According to the District Attorney’s Office, employees of the nonprofit contacted Chico police about possible embezzlement that occurred between December 2020 and November 2021.
The nonprofit, which employs adults with developmental disabilities, said an audit showed missing cash from its daily deposits and unauthorized purchases on its credit cards for more than $54,000.
Ramsey’s office said an investigation identified a former employee, Spang, who the DA’s Office said has no developmental disability and, as a manager had access to the nonprofits deposits and credit cards.
According to the DA, Spang made several fraudulent charges with the nonprofit credit cards before turning to a scheme where he would use the cards to shift money to his mom’s PayPal account, who would then send the payment back to Spang’s PayPal account.
According to Ramsey, his mother stated that her son had told her he was using a new personal credit card to pay down his debt on his other credit cards and needed her help as an intermediary. Ramsey’s office also said that once PayPal learned the transactions were fraudulent, it canceled the transactions and attached the debt to his mother’s account leaving her with about $18,000 in debt.
According to Ramsey, detectives decided that she wasn’t an unwilling victim of his scheme.
Spang, in addition to embezzling money from the Little Red Hen organization, made a $455 fraudulent transaction on a PayPal account belonging to another Little Red Hen employee with a developmental disability. The DA’s Office said Spang gained access to the employee’s PayPal account from an old personal computer the employee had loaned to Spang.
After he was arrested by the police, Spang reportedly told detectives that the embezzlement helped fund his addiction to the illicit opioid Tianeptine, which he bought online.
Spang was charged with and convicted of felony grand theft by embezzlement and misdemeanor theft from a dependent adult. Additionally, the judge ordered Spang to repay the full amount he stole from Little Red Hen and his fellow employee.