From Chelsea Phua:
A former employee of the American Red Cross who was assigned to help victims of the 2007 Angora fire has been arrested on suspicion of stealing and embezzling $16,574 meant to aid victims, El Dorado County District Attorney's officials said.
John Stephen Hellman was arrested Thursday afternoon in Texas by officials from Texas' Department of Public Safety.
Supervising District Attorney Investigator Bob Cosley said Hellman embezzled the money over a two-week period when the Red Cross was administering aid to victims of the fire, which scorched 3,100 acres and destroyed more than 250 homes.
When Red Cross security personnel performed an audit of the books, they discovered some discrepancy and contacted the El Dorado County District Attorney's office six months ago, Cosley said.
Investigators conducted numerous interviews and reviewed financial documents. They filed ten counts of grand theft by embezzlement and one count of embezzlement against Hellman, alleging that he stole from the American Red Cross.
He was booked into Travis County Criminal Justice Center in Austin, Texas, on a $150,000 arrest warrant and is being held pending extradition to El Dorado County.
Editor's note: This story has been changed to correct the amount of the suspected embezzlement.
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