Kenny Thompson
InstantRiverside.com

Riverside County District Attorney Rod Pachecho unsealed an indictment this week against 2 men charged with defrauding the Pechanga Tribe out of more than $4 million dollars. The investigation was handled with evidence gathered from the Pechanga Tribal Government, and county investigators.

In the indictment, it is alleged that James William Riley (pictured left), 46, served as an insurance broker for the Pechanga Tribe and committed grand theft, commercial bribery and money laundering. The indictment states that Riley took advantage of “precarious circumstances” within the insurance market created by Hurricane Katrina to misrepresent the amount of insurance premiums, thus overcharging the Pechanga Development Center by over $4 million.

Ryan Jay Robinson (pictured right), 39, the former Chief Financial Officer for the Pechanga Resort & Casino and Tribal Government Center, was also indicted by the same grand jury for grand theft and commercial bribery and for receiving a “kick-back” from Riley of more than $100,000 dollars in laundered cashier’s checks for overlooking Riley’s alleged fraud, according to a press statement by the district attorney.

Pacheco stated, “People may assume that as large amounts of money change hands illegally the corporations involved and law enforcement might not notice. They’re wrong. They will be caught and they will be prosecuted.”

Each defendant is scheduled to be arraigned on Thursday, February 18.

–InstantRiverside.com

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Saturday, February 6, 2010

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