Ex-treasurer of Canyon Lake nonprofit admits to embezzlement

>> The former treasurer for a nonprofit organization in Canyon Lake from which he stole almost $25,000 over a nearly threeyear span is slated to be sentenced next month.

Robert Miller Templeton, 81, of Canyon Lake pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of embezzlement by a fiduciary under a plea agreement with the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office. In exchange for his admission, prosecutors agreed to drop a related felony charge.

Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Zimel scheduled a sentencing hearing for April 23 at the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta.

Templeton remains free on his own recognizance.

According to an arrest warrant declaration filed by sheriff’s Investigator Charlie Alkire in March 2021, evidence of Templeton’s theft of funds from the Canyon Lake Travel Club surfaced during an audit by the man who replaced him as treasurer after the defendant resigned in December 2019.

Nothing was suspected until the new financial officer, Travis Montgomery, began scrutinizing the flow of money during Templeton’s tenure, from January 2017 to the end of 2019, the declaration stated.

“There were 56 club checks written out as pay to the order of Templeton or his personal business, MRT Consulting,” Alkire wrote.

The withdrawals totaled $24,061, according to the sheriff’s affidavit.

“None of the checks were recorded as withdrawals on the club’s monthly financial statements completed by Robert during the years he was treasurer,” Alkire said.

He said the funds were ultimately confirmed deposited into Templeton’s Wells Fargo bank account.

“Robert Templeton accomplished the thefts through access to the club’s checkbooks and also through covert efforts to mask the thefts by manipulating the treasurer’s monthly financial reports,” according to the declaration.