A San Francisco man has been charged with bank fraud and money laundering after allegedly embezzling over $1.2 million from two law firms where he was employed, details of which are revealed in an indictment unsealed by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California.
Tony Archuleta-Perkins, 48, purportedly started a bogus nonprofit, 'Murrieta Valley High School 1994' (MVHS 1994), back in 2013. Between May 2018 and December 2023, he exploited his CFO position to funnel the firms' funds into the fake organization’s account, using the money for personal expenses, which included payments on credit cards and real estate properties, according to the Department of Justice's announcement.
This elaborate scheme led to eight counts of bank fraud and five counts of money laundering against Archuleta-Perkins, as announced by U.S. Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey and FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Robert K. Triavy, Archuleta-Perkins, whose alleged crimes carry a maximum statutory sentence of 30 years and 10 years in prison per count respectively, was arrested and then released on a $500,000 bond after a federal court appearance.
Archuleta-Perkins is slated to reappear in court on July 31 before United States District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley. In the meantime, the indictment insists that an indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nikhil Bhagat is leading the prosecution with support from Madeline Wachs and Deputy Assistant Attorney General Lisa H. Miller of the Justice Department's Criminal Division, who are also providing aid in the ongoing investigation, which has been conducted by the FBI.
