UCLA fund manager pleads no contest to theft charge of stealing over $300K
UCLA fund manager Diana Fonseca pleaded no contest in stealing $336,000 from the history department. (Justin Jung/Daily Bruin senior staff)
By Guillaume Chantereau
July 31, 2021 2:42 p.m.
This post was updated Aug. 1 at 7:09 p.m.
A UCLA fund manager pleaded no contest to a grand theft charge after stealing more than $300,000.
Diana Fonseca, a 37-year-old fund manager from UCLA’s history department pleaded no contest to six felony counts of grand theft and admitted to the special allegation of aggravated white-collar crime, according to a statement released by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office. Fonseca also agreed to reimburse the totality of the stolen funds, amounting to $336,000.
Officials from UCLA’s history department discovered Fonseca’s fraudulent activities July 26, 2018, after she created fake purchase orders for electronic equipment.
Fonseca also submitted 45 separate fraudulent travel reimbursements, added to her personal checking account between May 2013 and October 2017, the statement from the district attorney’s office stated.
In an emailed statement, UCLA spokesperson Bill Kisliuk said UCLA was grateful to the people who uncovered the fraud.
“UCLA is grateful to the university employees and UCPD investigators who originally uncovered these egregious acts,” Kisliuk said. “We are also grateful to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office for pursuing the case.”
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said Fonseca’s criminal activities drained financial resources from the history department that could have been used to benefit students.
“Public employees have a financial responsibility to the people they serve,” Gascón added.
Fonseca is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 1 at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in downtown LA.
