Broker Faces Charges of Embezzling

The FBI said Thursday that a federal grand jury in Los Angeles has indicted a Whittier customs broker on charges of stealing more than $200,000 from a client.

Suzanne Knight, 34, had been a customs house broker licensed to help importers negotiate their way through federal red tape. Authorities believe that she may have fled to Canada last year.

The indictment alleges that, in July, 1991, she diverted two checks made out to the U.S. Customs Service from Japanese camera maker Nikon Inc. to her own account. One check was for $183,000 and the other for $28,000. The checks were to pay import duties.

Knight, the indictment alleges, changed the payee on the checks from the Customs Service to her own company, California International Custom Brokers. Once deposited in her company’s account at the La Habra branch of Landmark Bank, the money was withdrawn within two weeks and Knight disappeared, the FBI said.

She and her husband, Richard Knight, have not been seen in Southern California since last summer. In August, they deeded their house to another person; the deed was notarized in North Vancouver, Canada. The FBI says it believes that Suzanne Knight has relatives in Canada and may be living with them.

If convicted on two counts of bank fraud at the Orange County bank branch and two counts of embezzlement of public money, Knight faces a maximum 80 years in prison and a $1.2-million fine.