Dive Brief:

• A former finance chief for local San Francisco law firms was sentenced to three years in federal prison after pleading guilty to a fraud scheme embezzling over $1.3 million from his previous employers, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California said Wednesday in a press release. The sentencing comes after ex-CFO Tony Archuleta-Perkins pled guilty to one charge of bank fraud and one count of money laundering in December 2024 as part of a plea agreement, after being charged with eight counts of bank fraud and five counts of money laundering last July, according to press releases at the time.
• From a period beginning in 2017 through 2023, Archuleta-Perkins embezzled money from his former employers, including by funneling funds to a non-profit organization under his sole control. The former finance chief utilized those funds for “maintenance and renovation of two San Francisco houses and a Palm Springs vacation home, ultraluxury fashion and premium class international travel,” according to the sentencing memorandum filed with the Northern District of California court on May 14.
• “Mr. Archuleta-Perkins accepted responsibility immediately in this case and has taken extraordinary steps to pay money back,” Archuleta-Perkins’ attorney Kenneth White, founding partner for Brown White & Osborn LLP told CFO Dive via email. “I expect he will continue to do so. He has the unwavering support of friends and family who know he will do everything he can to make things right.”  

Dive Insight:

In addition to his 37-month prison sentence, U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley also sentenced Archuleta-Perkins to three years of supervised release and ordered the former finance chief to pay restitution of over $1.3 million, according to the release.

The restitution amount will be minus funds already paid to victims, including an agreement between the affected parties for certain funds from an October 2024 sale of a San Francisco property “to be deposited into the Clerk’s registry in anticipation of an eventual restitution award in this case,” according to the sentencing memorandum. The clerk received about $256,000 in November.

Originally hired by a local law firm in 2017, Archuleta-Perkins held various roles at the firm before eventually assuming the position of CFO for the business as well as for a related law firm, according to the Wednesday release. His position allowed him access to the company’s payroll and payments platforms, with the former finance chief utilizing that access to embezzle funds via several methods, according to the announcement of Archuleta-Perkins’ December plea.

Archuleta-Perkins “engaged in a years-long embezzlement, first stealing from a co-worker at a food company, and then taking advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic and his employer’s dire health situation to begin stealing from the small law firm where he worked,” the sentencing memorandum states.  

The bulk of the embezzlement was funneled through a non-profit organization the former finance chief set up and solely controlled. In 2013, Archuleta-Perkins — a 1994 graduate of Murietta Valley High School — formed a non-profit organization termed Murietta Valley High School Class of 1994, “apparently as a vehicle to raise money for his 20th high school reunion,” according to the sentencing memorandum.

Archuleta-Perkins embezzled more than $1.1 million via the MVHS 1994 non-profit and an associated bank account by leading the law firm to make fraudulent payments to the non-profit, according to the memorandum.

Also, on “at least one occasion, Archuleta-Perkins falsely endorsed a $41,663.69 U.S. Treasury check made out to one of the law firms, deposited it into a bank account belonging to MVHS 1994 and then wrote himself a check for the same amount,” according to the July announcement of his indictment.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California did not immediately respond to requests for comment.