LUCERNE – A former executive director of the Lucerne Senior Center has been formally charged with embezzlement and a battery of other felony charges in connection with the disappearance of center funds that is alleged to have taken place during 2005.
Rowland Mosser, 63, who served as the center's executive director for three years, is being charged with four felony counts – embezzlement, grand theft by an employee, grand theft and keeping a false record of government funds – District Attorney Jon Hopkins said Thursday afternoon.
Mosser's wife, Jayne, 60, also is being charged with a single felony count of committing grand theft, said Hopkins.
Judy Conard of the Lakeport law firm Alvord and Conard is representing Rowland Mosser in the case. When contacted Thursday afternoon she offered no comment.
The criminal complaint against the Mossers alleges theft through embezzlement and other fraudulent acts committed against the Lucerne Alpine Senior Center, where Rowland Mosser served as executive director from July 2002 until his resignation in August 2005, Hopkins noted.
All of the acts are alleged to have occurred between January 1, 2005 and August 12, 2005.
Jim Swatts, who took over as the senior center's board president shortly before Rowland Mosser left his job at the center, told Lake County News Thursday that, when center officials added up all the missing funds, it came out to more than $200,000.
However, the District Attorney's complaint against the couple – which Hopkins said his office filed Tuesday – did not specify an amount.
Arrest warrants have been issued for the Mossers, with bail set at $10,000 each, said Hopkins. The Mossers' attorneys have arranged for them to surrender on the warrants to the Lake County Jail.
The charges against the couple were the result of a year-and-a-half-long investigation by Hopkins' office, which encompassed tens of thousands of documents and numerous witness interviews.
Hopkins said that the investigation began when several individuals contacted the Lake County Sheriff’s Department on Nov. 1, 2005. Swatts confirmed that he took information about the missing funds to both the sheriff and District Attorney's Office, as well as the state Attorney General's Office.
The sheriff's office initially investigated the matter before referring the case to Hopkins' office in 2006 for a full and formal investigation.
"Due to caseload and personnel shortages, this case simply could not have been completed by detectives in my department because of numerous interruptions to conduct investigations into homicides and other violent crimes,” Sheriff Rod Mitchell said Thursday. “Surely, the same constraints would have applied to the District Attorney's full-time staff.”
Retired District Attorney Gary Luck and investigator Ron Larsen from Hopkins' office worked the case, with assistance from other agencies.
On Jan. 30, District Attorney's Office investigators served a search warrant at the Mossers' home on Sixth Avenue in Lucerne, as Lake County News has reported. Items taken during the search included one laptop and one desktop computer, some unspecified paperwork and casino players cards belonging to Rowland Mosser.
Code Enforcement officers also red-tagged the home. An abatement case on the issue was set to go before the Board of Supervisors Tuesday but a delay had been requested due to a potential property sale.
At the time of that search Mosser maintained he hadn't taken anything from the center. “There's no money to take.”
Since leaving his position at the center Mosser has become treasurer for the Ukiah-based Rural Communities Housing Development Corp., which builds low income housing in Lake and Mendocino counties. He also has been on the board of directors for North Coast Opportunities – an organization which offers a variety of social services from child care and Head Start to programs for seniors – since February 2004.
He also is listed as the corporate secretary of the board of Veridigm Inc., a company which provides “progressive gaming software and entertainment services to the international community,” according to the company's most recent Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
Swatts, who resigned as the center's board president late last year, said the news of charges being filed in the case was “fantastic.” He said people have been asking him about the case constantly over the last few years.
Current Lucerne Senior Center Executive Director Lee Tyree couldn't be reached for comment Thursday.
However, JJ Jackson, who succeeded Mosser as executive director and served in Lucerne until December – when he moved to the Lakeport Senior center – said the situation at the center “was a heck of a mess and a lot of people worked very hard to straighten it out.”
It was only through the center's sale of its thrift shop building to the county last year – for $150,000 – that the center was able to begin to set its finances straight, said Jackson.
Jackson credited county Chief Administrative Officer Kelly Cox, the Board of Supervisors and the center's board of directors for their work to get the Lucerne Senior Center back on track.
“It's nice to see something happen and I know they worked very hard to get to his point,” Jackson said of the criminal case.
Added Mitchell, “It is good to see the enormous efforts in this case culminate in a criminal filing. I appreciate the time and talent that Ron Larsen and Gary Luck were willing to put into this investigation. I admire them for their willingness to forgo retirement to continue to serve their
community in this fashion."
The senior center's missing funds and the case's handling also were the subject of an in-depth Grand Jury investigation published in last year's Grand Jury report.
Grand Jury Foreman Bron Locke said he was glad the District Attorney's Office “was able to conclude what was a lengthy investigation and I can only hope that justice is served.” He added that the investigators worked very hard to get to this point.
“I'm also proud of what the 2006/2007 Grand Jury was able to accomplish in this case,” Locke said.
No date has yet been announced for when the Mossers may make their first court appearance.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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