PORT HUENEME : Grand Theft Suspect Stopped at Airport
A former employee of an Oxnard nonprofit organization who authorities say fled to the Philippines to avoid prosecution on embezzlement charges has been arrested, the FBI said Monday.
Norma Viceo Layug, 54, a former resident of Port Hueneme, was arrested Friday by the FBI at Los Angeles International Airport as she returned from the Philippines, the FBI said.
Layug, who worked for the Channel County Legal Services Assn. as a controller, was charged in 1990 with embezzlement and grand theft after an audit of the organization showed that about $160,000 was missing, authorities said.
To avoid being prosecuted, Layug, who had worked for the nonprofit organization since 1978, fled to the Philippines in November, 1988, and had not returned to the United States until the day of her arrest, authorities said.
Authorities had an arrest warrant for Layug since March, 1990. On April 22, the U.S. Customs Service informed the FBI and the Ventura County district attorney’s office that Layug was en route to the United States.
Layug, who is scheduled to appear in court May 2, was being held in Ventura County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail.
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