District Attorney’s Office arrests two people for defrauding Rotary Fire Relief Fund
- Lake County News reports
- Posted On
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Two Clearlake residents were taken into custody this week after authorities said attempted to defraud the fund set up by local Rotary clubs to help wildlife survivors.
Ralph Gordon Darting, 33, and Sabrina Deann Rich, 29, were arrested on Tuesday, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
District Attorney Don Anderson said Darting and Rich were arrested by investigators grand theft and conspiracy to defraud the local Rotary’s 5130 Fire Relief Fund during a sting operation set up between Rotary and Anderson’s office.
Anderson said Rotary District 5130 has established a Fire Relief Fund through the Business Grant Recovery Program.
The nonprofit organization began after the 2015 Valley fire and continued through the Clayton fire and now the latest Sulphur fire. The goal of the organization is to assist in fire recovery, with an emphasis on getting storefront, agriculture and home businesses back into operation and preventing closure due to losses suffered as a result of fire.
On Dec. 1, Darting and Rich submitted an online application to Rotary claiming they had lost $2,900 in roofing materials and $900 in roofing tools in the fire, Anderson said.
Darting and Rich claimed the materials and tools were at a job site located at 3923 Monterey Drive in Clearlake the day prior to the fire. Anderson said they produced altered receipts in their claim of lost materials.
Rotary officials were suspicious of the claim and contacted Anderson about the claim.
Anderson said that through an investigation into the claim by his office it was discovered that the property owners were not having construction at their residence and did not know Ralph Darting. Neighbors also had not seen any construction at the residence prior to the fire.
On Dec. 20, District Attorney’s Office investigators – posing as Rotary officials – met with Darting and Rich at the claimed construction site. Darting confirmed to investigators that was the location they had stored the materials and tools that they claimed were lost in the fire. They also gave additional false information regarding the loss, Anderson said.
Anderson said that on Tuesday, Darting and Rich met with Rotary officials and district attorney investigators at Austin Park where Chief Investigator Bruce Smith presented them with a check from Rotary for $5,000.
After accepting the check, both Ralph Darting and Sabrina Rich were arrested with the assistance of Clearlake Police for grand theft and conspiracy, Anderson said.
“Rotary is a great organization that is devoted to helping the community and the citizens of Clearlake,” said Don Anderson. “It is very unfortunate that certain individuals illegally try to take advantage of the generosity of others. At the District Attorney’s Office we will not tolerate such criminal activity and we are devoted to investigating and prosecuting these crimes. We are extremely thankful to those members of Rotary who cooperated in the investigation and in bringing these individuals to justice.”
Rich, a stay-at-home mother, and Darting, a roofer, were both booked into the Lake County Jail on Tuesday, with bail for each set at $15,000, according to their booking sheets.
Jail records showed that Darting remained in custody on Thursday, but that Rich had posted the required percentage of bail and was released.
Both are tentatively scheduled to make their initial court appearances in the case on Thursday.