Former Homedco Clerk Is Held in Embezzlement

Police said they arrested a former Homedco Inc. clerk this week and charged him with embezzling $345,000.

Michael John Rangel, 31, of Huntington Beach was arrested Wednesday by Fountain Valley police at a restaurant in that city after what police said was a two-month investigation.

After searching Rangel’s home, police said more than $300,000 was “still missing.”

Police believe most of that money “has been spent,” said Detective Rick Martinez. Some of it was used to buy Homedco stock, which was later sold, Martinez said.

Rangel, a former accounts payable clerk at Homedco, was in Orange County Jail on Thursday on $350,000 bond. Arraignment is set for this morning. Police also accused him of grand theft and money laundering in addition to embezzlement.

Homedco’s auditors discovered the alleged embezzlement several months ago, police said.

Homedco, based in Fountain Valley, is a $194-million-a-year company that provides medical services, such as intravenous feeding and respiratory therapy, to house-bound patients. Homedco, which sold stock to the public for the first time in May, is one of the largest such companies in the nation.

The company refused to comment on the alleged embezzlement.

Police said Rangel funneled funds out of the company and deposited them into the Orange County Teachers Federal Credit Union. Later he transferred the money to other banks, they said.