Suspect Sought in Embezzlement From MCA Is Arrested

A Woodland Hills man who police said was a “key player” in an embezzlement scheme that bilked MCA Inc. out of nearly $300,000 was in jail Thursday after more than $250,000 worth of cocaine was seized in a search of a storage locker he was renting, authorities said.

Jeffrey Dean Allison, 30, who had been sought by police for nearly a month, was arrested early Tuesday morning when California Highway Patrol officers stopped him on the Golden State Freeway in Sylmar on suspicion of drunk driving, Lt. Duane Gansemer said.

Allison, who told police he is a plumber, is suspected of laundering six checks totaling $294,000 that were embezzled from the Universal City entertainment conglomerate from June to August, Gansemer said.

Cynthia Zale, a 31-year-old former accounting supervisor with MCA, and her husband, Steven, 30, were arrested at their Sherman Oaks residence Oct. 24 on suspicion of forgery and grand theft in the embezzlement operation, Los Angeles police said. A warrant was issued for Allison’s arrest shortly after the Zales were arrested.

When Allison was taken to the Los Angeles Police Department’s Foothill Division, officers discovered a “lump” in one of his socks that turned out to be a small bag of cocaine, police said.

Narcotics investigators then searched his car and found a key to a room at a Sylmar motel, Gansemer said. A search of the motel room yielded a rental receipt for a nearby storage locker, Gansemer said. Investigators, with a search warrant, opened the locker and found the cocaine, scales and other items used to package drugs, Gansemer said.

Allison was being held on suspicion of possessing cocaine for sale and suspicion of forgery, grand theft and drunk driving. He is being held at Van Nuys Jail in lieu of $105,000 bail.

2-Month Investigation

Allison’s arrest ends a two-month police investigation that began when employees in MCA’s accounting office discovered the missing money during a routine audit, Detective Russ Pungrchar said. Pungrchar speculated that the cocaine found in the locker may have been purchased with the money stolen from MCA, since the money has never been found.

“We don’t know where the money is, but that could have been the case, and he was certainly a key player in the whole thing,” Pungrchar said.

Police allege that Cynthia Zale, an MCA employee for 11 years, stole the checks that were made out to the large advertising firm of Doyle Dane Bernbach Inc., which handles publicity for MCA.

After the advertising agency was paid and the cashed checks were returned to MCA’s accounting office, Zale altered the checks’ invoice numbers and put new numbers into a computer that listed unpaid bills, the detective said.

Altered Name

Zale then took the Inc. off the name of the payee on the check to make it look like that of an individual--Doyle Dane Bernbach, Deputy Dist. Atty. Ed Consiglio said. New checks would be issued, and the money paid to an account held in the name of Doyle Dane Bernbach at a Sherman Oaks bank, Consiglio said.

Allison, who had opened the account at the bank and identified himself as Bernbach by using a false driver’s license, would then withdraw money from the account after the checks cleared, Consiglio said.

Gansemer, commanding officer of the Police Department’s Valley forgery section, said police believe that Allison may have been living in Oregon since the embezzlement scheme was uncovered and may have been making his first trip back to Los Angeles when he was arrested.

Meanwhile, Cynthia Zale and her husband, who owns a Sherman Oaks jewelry store, pleaded not guilty in the case Thursday in Van Nuys Municipal Court, Consiglio said. The couple are free on bail of $1,000 each.