RSM Man Indicted For Embezzling $16 Million

A former chief financial officer of an Irvine-based company called Trustin Technology returned to Santa Ana today to face charges of embezzling about $16 million from the company, according to the FBI.

Jean Joseph Ibrahim, 33, who the FBI says is formerly of Rancho Santa Margarita, is expected to be arraigned Friday in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana. Ibrahim was indicted Wednesday on two counts of wire fraud in connection with the alleged embezzlement scheme.

Ibrahim was arrested April 4 at John F. Kennedy Airport while returning to the country from a trip that originated in Greece, according to FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller. Ibrahim was accused in the indictment of embezzling almost $16.1 million from the company.

According to the company's website, Trustin Technology is a "supply chain management solution provider'' that works with companies such as Apple, IBM, Hewlett Packard and Buy.com. Trustin executives contacted federal authorities March 8 saying they suspected Ibrahim embezzled millions from the company before resigning.

Eimiller said that before Ibrahim resigned in late February, he told Trustin executives that the company's cash-flow issues could be blamed on delinquent payments from multiple clients. Ibrahim would take money received from the company's customers and put it into his own accounts while making it appear in the company's ledgers that the money was deposited in Trustin's accounts, the indictment alleges. It also alleges that Ibrahim used the money to gamble, trade in the commodities markets and to buy items for himself such as suits, shoes, vacations and to pay off household expenses.

Ibrahim also is accused of trying to make a deal with company executives to not have him prosecuted when the fraud was discovered, promising to return some of the money, according to a complaint filed by authorities. Ibrahim allegedly admitted he gambled some of the money away and spent some of it on himself, according to the complaint.

Ibrahim left the country with his family in late February and authorities allege one of his work emails indicates he bought a villa in a suburb of Tehran, Iran, according to the complaint. After he resigned from Trustin, Ibrahim took a trip to Switzerland, Turkey and Lebanon and was stopped in February by U.S. Customs officials. who found he had about 40 gold bars in his luggage worth more than $1 million, but he was allowed to keep them, Eimiller said.

Ibrahim worked for the company for about four years and earned about $180,000 annually, according to the FBI.

—City News Service