Booster club embezzlement alleged

A Yuma woman has been arrested on several felony counts stemming from her alleged embezzlement of more than $10,000 from a booster club fund.

Yuma Police Department spokesman Clint Norred told the Yuma Sun Wednesday that officers arrested Diane Villa, 36, on Sept. 1 in connection with an investigation in which she allegedly embezzled about $10,000 to $13,000 from an off-campus booster club for athletics at Kofa High School.

Villa was charged with one count of criminal theft, two counts of criminal forgery, two counts of fraudulent schemes and had a warrant from a previous failure to appear in court.

As of press time Wednesday, Villa was still in custody at the Yuma County jail.

Court documents for Villa are currently unavailable, and Norred could not confirm whether bail was set for Villa's release.

While Toni Badone, superintendent of the Yuma Union High School District, declined to comment on the case, she said booster clubs are not actually affiliated with the school. In addition, the school has no jurisdiction over the club, members are not personnel and all accounts are separate from school accounts.

Norred said that during the course of an investigation that began in July, Villa allegedly attempted to cover up the alleged embezzlement, which included writing checks from a closed account. In addition, he said, Villa had a separate case from 2007 in which she allegedly wrote personal checks from a closed account. That amount, he said, totaled about $12,000.

Stephanie A. Wilken can be reached at swilken@yumasun.com or 539-6857.