Manhattan Beach : Club Under Investigation

The Manhattan Country Club is under investigation by the district attorney’s office for alleged misappropriation of funds and passing bad checks. Denise Dube, senior investigator in the district attorney’s major fraud division, said the investigation began in late March at the request of the Manhattan Beach Police Department. The investigation also includes the club’s parent company, Alpha Omega Development Corp. Manhattan Beach Police Capt. Ray Burgess would not comment.

The club, 1330 Park View Ave., has 18 tennis courts, four racquetball courts, a swimming pool, weight and aerobics rooms, and a restaurant and lounge. It has sold 806 memberships and about 2,500 people have used the club since it opened nearly five years ago, Giorgio Masini, general manager, said. Members pay a one-time $8,000 initiation fee and monthly dues ranging from $125 to $145, he said.

Masini attributed the club’s problems to accounting procedures that have been resolved in the last several months. Five of the six members of the accounting department were fired in February and the sixth person quit, he said.

Before that time, however, Masini said some checks that the club had issued to employees and other businesses had been returned for insufficient funds. In addition, he said some members were billed for services or items they did not purchase and the accounting department failed to follow through on promises to correct the problems. He said some accounts were not credited with payments and some members noted long delays before they were billed for their purchases.