A former UC Davis employee surrendered Oct. 18 at the Yolo County Jail in Woodland on an arrest warrant for suspicion of embezzlement and theft of more than $38,000 from the university.

Sgt. Lance Faille of the Yolo County Sheriff’s Department said Sueanna Gaines, also known as Susie Cauchi, of Yuba City, posted a $10,000 bond and was released. She is set to appear in Yolo County Superior Court in Woodland on Nov. 17.

Credit cards, cash

The warrant alleges that Gaines, who had served as accounting and purchasing coordinator for Intercollegiate Athletics from May 1998 until she went on leave on Oct. 21, 2008, made unauthorized use of a departmental gas credit card and a purchasing card and also misappropriated cash deposits and receipts from sales of used cell phones. Gaines left university employment on Dec. 8, 2008.

The UC Davis Police Department on Aug. 1 asked the Yolo County District Attorney to issue the warrant for Gaines. The request resulted from investigations by the police department, the campus’s Employee and Labor Relations unit, and its Internal Audit Services.

The warrant is for charges of one count each of theft (California Penal Code 484a), grand theft (487a) and embezzlement (503); and four counts of embezzlement as an employee in control of property (508).

New procedures, protections

The investigations identified violations of university policies that provide a system of checks against misuse of university funds and property. An audit of departmental controls found breakdowns in accountability, separation of duties and the physical security of cash.

The university has taken steps to address the violations.

“The campus takes this loss seriously,” said Robert Loessberg-Zahl, assistant executive vice chancellor at UC Davis. “We have acted with the department management to ensure that procedures are followed to prevent any such incident in the future.”

Scrutiny began in October 2008

The alleged misuse came to the attention of the university in October 2008 when a department employee informed Intercollegiate Athletics Director Greg Warzecka of some questionable charges on one of the department’s gasoline credit cards.

Detective Sgt. Paul Henoch of the UC Davis Police Department said the allegations include:

• $17,324 in unauthorized charges to a university gas credit card from November 2004 to October 2008;
• $7,512 in fraudulent transactions using a departmental purchasing card for items ranging from camera equipment to wedding supplies and services; many of these transactions were described in the university’s electronic purchasing system as more typical departmental supplies requested or approved by others; and
• about $10,000 in misappropriated funds.

Warzecka said a newly hired budget analyst is providing additional oversight. The hiring has enabled the unit to reorganize to provide another layer of approval on payments and ensure there is a separation of duties between a person who initiates a purchase and the person verifying its delivery.