Goodwill Sacramento’s ex-CEO indicted. Prosecutors allege he siphoned over $1M from charity

The former president and chief executive officer of Goodwill Industries of Sacramento Valley & Northern Nevada has been indicted on federal wire fraud and identity theft charges alleging he diverted $1.4 million from the charity for his own benefit, court papers say.

A grand jury indictment unsealed Thursday morning charges Richard Alan Abrusci, 45, with nine counts of wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and three counts of monetary transactions with proceeds of specified unlawful activity.

The 12-page indictment does not name Goodwill, instead referring to “Non-Profit 1” as an entity he headed “that operated a chain of retail stores in California and Nevada.”

Abrusci’s LinkedIn page lists him as the Goodwill president and CEO from June 2018 to July 2021, and the indictment says that “Non-Profit 1 fired Abrusci in July 2021.”

Abrusci was booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail Thursday morning until an afternoon court hearing at which he pleaded not guilty and was ordered released pending the outcome of the case.

The next hearing was set for Feb. 8, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Fogg said in court that more than 100,000 pages of bank records and other documents already have been compiled that must be presented to the defense.

Goodwill spokesman Sam Singer said the nonprofit discovered Abrusci’s alleged actions through a routine audit and had been working with law enforcement since then.

“The organization provided information to the U.S. Attorney’s office that played a role in today’s indictment of Goodwill’s former CEO, Richard Abrusci, for stealing money from the organization” Singer said. “Goodwill Sacramento conducted a routine annual audit in 2021, and that audit identified a series of questionable transactions by Mr. Abrusci led to an internal investigation by the Goodwill Sacramento Board of Directors.”

Singer said that led to the hiring of a forensic audit team that found Abrusci had misappropriated approximately $1.4 million.

“The board immediately notified the Sacramento D.A.’s office of the forensic audit and terminated Mr. Abrusci,” Singer said. “The D.A. then notified the U.S. Attorney’s office, whose investigation led to today’s legal action.

“We urge prosecutors and the courts to punish Mr. Abrusci to the fullest extent of the law.”

According to the indictment, Abrusci used a fictitious business name — Resolution Arrangement Services — to have payments made by Goodwill to RAS.

“Abrusci caused the fraudulent payments into the RAS bank account that he controlled by using various false documents, including invoices and purchase orders,” the U.S. Attorney’s office said in a news release issued after the indictment was unsealed. “In one instance, Abrusci used a forged letter purporting to be from an attorney representing the charity to convince the organization’s CFO to pay RAS $55,000 under false pretenses related to a lawsuit.”

That lawsuit involved Sacramento’s district attorney and other prosecutors who accused Goodwill of mishandling hazardous wastes and settled the case for $200,000 in 2020.

During that case, Abrusci told a prosecutor Goodwill was willing to settle the case for $50,000 to be directed toward technology for education purposes, and added that Goodwill would pay RAS another $5,000 “to facilitate this agreement,” the indictment says.

But that money was not actually part of the agreement, and Abrusci deposited the $55,000 into the RAS bank account, the indictment says.

Abrusci is scheduled to be arraigned in Sacramento federal court Thursday afternoon.

“If convicted, Abrusci faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each of the nine counts of wire fraud,” U.S. Attorney Phil Talbert’s office said. “Additionally, he faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 for each of the three counts of monetary transactions with proceeds of specified unlawful activity.

“Finally, he faces a consecutive two years in prison for the aggravated identity theft.”

Abrusci joined Goodwill in December 2014 and served as chief operating officer until he was named president in June 2018, his LinkedIn page says.

In a 2019 interview with the Sacramento Business Journal, Abrusci said he was making $275,000 a year, at least $125,000 less than his predecessor.

“And it was my choice to do that,” Abrusci was quoted as saying.

Singer emphasized that since Abrusci’s firing Goodwill has strengthened its financial oversight and said the entity “appreciates the community’s continued support.”

“They can have full faith and confidence in the organization,” he said.

This story was originally published December 7, 2023 at 10:39 AM.