LOS ANGELES : Ex-Head of Jobs Agency Indicted on 34 Charges

A federal grand jury Thursday returned a 34-count indictment against the former director of an El Monte agency that receives up to $3 million annually in federal job-training funds.

The indictment, filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, charges Douglas L. Shaw with conspiracy, embezzlement, tampering with witnesses and obstructing a federal investigation, among other allegations.

Shaw, 50, headed Mid-Valley Manpower Consortium, a job-training agency, from 1979 until he was suspended earlier this year after a preliminary county audit of the agency’s records revealed several questionable practices.

Shaw’s attorney, Arthur Lindars, said he had not seen the indictment. However, “if the allegations are as I expect they are, he can expect to be found innocent of the majority of them. I don’t think there was any criminal intent.”

Prosecutors said Shaw, who is in custody, would be arraigned today.

The indictment alleges that he conspired to embezzle and convert federal funds by intercepting checks payable to Mid-Valley and depositing them into secret accounts. Other charges allege that Shaw used consortium credit cards for personal purposes, misapplied funds by paying the salaries of people who were not employed by Mid-Valley, and misled investigators by ordering employees to lie and falsify documents.

The consortium funds came from the federal Job Training Partnership Act, which was passed by Congress to help prepare youths, unskilled adults and the economically disadvantaged to learn job skills.