SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The former CEO of Goodwill Sacramento Valley & Northern Nevada, Richard Abrusci, was arrested Thursday after a federal fraud indictment.
According to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California, 45-year-old Abrusci was indicted Nov. 16, but the indictment wasn't known about until his arrest in early December.
The indictment charges him with nine counts of wire fraud, one count of aggravated identity theft and three counts of monetary transactions with proceeds of specified unlawful activity.
Court documents say Abrusci began working for Goodwill Industries of Sacramento Valley & Northern Nevada in 2014. He eventually became the COO in 2016 and CEO in 2018 before his termination in summer 2021.
Sam Singer, a spokesperson for Goodwill Sacramento Valley & Northern Nevada, says the nonprofit found financial irregularities in a financial audit and forwarded the findings to the district attorney’s office who then passed it to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
From 2016 through his termination, Abrusci is accused of causing Goodwill and one of its subsidiaries to pay around $1.4 million in Resolution Arrangement Services (RAS). The indictment says RAS was a fictional business name he registered in 2008.
Prosecutors say Abrusci used false documents, like invoices and purchase orders, to get the fraudulent payments into the RAS account. They cite one instance where he allegedly forged a letter claiming to be an attorney representing Goodwill to convince the CFO to pay $55,000 related to a lawsuit.
RAS ultimately didn’t provide any of the services it billed Goodwill and a subsidiary for.
He faces a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count if convicted of the nine wire fraud charges.
He also faces a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count if convicted of the three monetary transactions with proceeds of specified unlawful activity.
He faces two years in prison if convicted of aggravated identity theft.
“Sacramento Goodwill urges prosecutors in the justice system to fully prosecute Mr. Abrusci to the fullest extent of the law. He took advantage of his position and he took advantage of the many people who count upon Goodwill to help make the world a better place, give people jobs and opportunities,” said Singer.
Singer also says Goodwill hired a veteran CEO to replace Abrusci who has put guardrails into place to prevent the misappropriation of funds in the future.
“We want people to know that when they give money to Goodwill that it’s in safe hands and they can have full faith and confidence in the organization. It was the organization that determined there was wrongdoing and turned it over to the appropriate authorities,” said Singer.
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