Former Goodwill CEO indicted on additional fraud charges

Michaela Harris, Appeal-Democrat, Marysville, Calif.
·2 min read
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Apr. 5—Former president and CEO of Goodwill Industries of Sacramento Valley & Northern Nevada Richard Abrusci was indicted on additional federal wire fraud and identity theft charges on Thursday after allegedly embezzling nearly $150,000 from additional nonprofits, U.S. Attorney Phillip Talbert announced.

In November last year, Abrusci, 45, was first indicted on nine counts of wire fraud after allegedly embezzling $1.4 million from Goodwill. The superseding indictment adds charges for two additional victim nonprofits.

Abrusci's first indictment does not name Goodwill directly, instead referring to it as "Nonprofit 1" where he became the chief operating officer of the organization in 2016 and its president and CEO in 2018.

Abrusci's LinkedIn profile lists him as the Goodwill president and CEO from June 2018 to July 2021, and the indictment says that "Nonprofit 1 fired Abrusci in July 2021."

According to court documents, between 2016 and 2021, Abrusci fraudulently caused the nonprofit organization and one of its subsidiaries to pay approximately $1.4 million to Resolution Arrangement Services (RAS). This entity consists of a fictitious business name registered by Abrusci in 2008 and a bank account that he opened the same year.

The superseding indictment alleges that during the summer of 2022, Abrusci became the president of the Sacramento chapter of an unnamed national nonprofit organization that pairs children with adult mentors. From October to December 2022, Abrusci allegedly embezzled nearly $50,000 from this nonprofit, the state Department of Justice said.

Also in the fall of 2022, Abrusci was the chairperson of the board of directors for an umbrella organization for statewide nonprofits that connect community members with public services. From December 2022 to January 2023, Abrusci allegedly embezzled approximately $100,000 from this nonprofit.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Abrusci allegedly used the same method to embezzle funds from all three organizations. He reportedly caused the nonprofits to pay RAS for a variety of services that the entity never performed. Abrusci allegedly caused the fraudulent payments into the RAS bank account that he controlled by using various false documents, including invoices and purchase orders.

"If convicted, Abrusci faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each of the 12 counts of wire fraud. 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 count of aggravated identity theft," Talbert's office said.