Sherman Oaks Accountant Imprisoned For Stealing Millions

LOS ANGELES, CA — A Sherman Oaks man who worked as an accountant for a Los Angeles record company was sentenced Tuesday to six years and four months in state prison for stealing $3.1 million from his longtime employer and evading taxes, according to the District Attorney's Office.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge James R. Dabney ordered Joel David Keyser, 61, to pay full restitution to his former employer, along with more than $290,000 to the state's Franchise Tax Board for back taxes, penalties and the cost of the investigation and 10 percent annually from the date of the loss, according to the District Attorney's Office.

Keyser was a certified public accountant who worked for Cleopatra Records Inc. for two decades, according to Deputy District Attorney Scott Dominguez.

Keyser wrote checks from the company's accounts to himself and to cash, through wire transfers, and by giving unauthorized loans from the business between January 2006 and July 2012, according to the District Attorney's Office.

The District Attorney's Bureau of Investigation and Franchise Tax Board investigated a complaint filed by the company's owners after they discovered the theft, according to the District Attorney's Office.

Keyser pleaded no contest Aug. 29 to four felony counts each of grand theft of personal property exceeding $950 in value, filing a false tax return and failure to file an income tax return, along with admitting an allegation that the charges involved fraud and embezzlement of more than $500,000, according to the District Attorney's Office.

Keyser was ordered to surrender Jan. 7 to begin serving his prison sentence.

City News Service; Photo: Shutterstock