LOS ANGELES (CNS) – A former secretary of the Los Angeles firefighters union and chairman of the organization’s non-profit foundation has been arrested and charged with grand theft and forgery for allegedly transferring nearly $83,000 from the foundation to his personal account, authorities said Wednesday.
Wednesday morning’s announcement was made by California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman, whose offices worked together on the investigation.
Adam Walker, former secretary of United Firefighters of Los Angeles City, is charged with one felony count each of grand theft by an employee or agent and forgery related to items exceeding $950 in value, according to the complaint.
A joint task force from the California Department of Justice and the District Attorney’s Office discovered last June that Walker allegedly stole $82,914.24 from the non-profit foundation between December 2022 and January 2024, according to a statement released by the Attorney General’s Office.
Investigators found that Walker opened a foundation bank account naming himself as the sole signer and allegedly used the account to systematically shift the foundation funds into his personal accounts via intra- bank transfers, according to the Attorney General’s Office.
He allegedly tried to conceal the theft from auditors by fabricating personal credit card reimbursements and using online services to forge fake receipts, with investigators determining that the funds were allegedly used for personal expenses, including online gambling, officials said.
“While the case is ongoing, any allegations of felony grand theft are deeply troubling and taken very seriously,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement released shortly after the charges were announced. “I’ve spoken with Chief (Jaime) Moore, and I want to thank our state and local law enforcement partners for their work to hold this person — and anyone who commits crime — accountable.”
The case is being co-prosecuted by the Department of Justice’s Special Prosecutions Section and the District Attorney’s Office.
It was not immediately clear when Walker would be arraigned.
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