THOUSAND OAKS : Former Controller Gets Prison Term

The former controller of a Thousand Oaks actuarial firm was sentenced Friday to 3 years and 4 months in prison for embezzling more than $111,000.

Nooshin Zahab, 42, of Reseda, had pleaded guilty June 12 to felony charges of grand theft and tax fraud and to a special allegation that the theft exceeded $100,000.

From 1985 to 1990, Zahab was controller at Advanced Benefit Systems, a Thousand Oaks firm that manages pension funds. After Zahab left the company, company officials and sheriff’s investigators discovered that he had deposited 31 company checks into his personal bank account, according to court records.

The thefts occurred in 1988 and 1989, and Zahab failed to report the income on his state tax forms, according to the court records.

The charges carry a maximum of eight years in prison, but Zahab had no prior record. When he pleaded guilty, Ventura County Superior Court Judge James M. McNally agreed to sentence him to no more than 3 years and 4 months in prison.

At the sentencing hearing Friday, Deputy Public Defender Alison A. O’Neill asked the judge to find that in the interest of justice, Zahab should serve no more than a year in the Ventura County Jail. She said a long prison sentence could jeopardize Zahab’s status as a resident alien from Iran and would prevent him from providing for his wife and three children, who were in court Friday.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Jeffrey G. Bennett said Zahab’s immigration status should not be the court’s concern. “He knew when he stole the money that he could be deported,” Bennett said, adding that probation investigators also recommended a prison term.

Bennett said afterward that he was pleased with the sentence, which included an order that Zahab pay restitution to Advanced Benefit Systems and to the state.

“It’s really important to make sure that people who are willing to do this kind of crime understand that the consequences are serious,” Bennett said.

Advanced Benefits Systems owner Gerald Goldstein told McNally that Zahab had been a trusted employee. “We gave him great freedom,” Goldstein said. “He betrayed us.”