Ex-Court Clerk Held in Theft Case

District attorney’s investigators Wednesday arrested the former assistant chief deputy clerk of Pomona Municipal Court, who is accused of embezzling more than $240,000 from Los Angeles County.

Michael La Motte, 39, is scheduled for arraignment today, said Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office. Prosecutors allege that La Motte took the money during the more than two years that he worked at the Pomona courthouse beginning in early 1993.

La Motte allegedly acknowledged to court officials in September that he had been taking money. “An investigation began immediately after by Pomona P.D. and D.A.’s investigators,” said Carmen Sanford, assistant administrator of the Pomona Municipal Court and La Motte’s supervisor.

La Motte was placed on leave and later resigned, she said.

Gibbons said La Motte left his court post on Sept. 20. The next day he was arrested on suspicion of grand theft by Pomona police, according to police records. However, he was not charged with any offenses at that time.

La Motte was arrested again Wednesday morning at his office in Glendale, where he works as a salesman for Kaiser Permanente, Gibbons said. He was being held on $360,000 bail, and prosecutors have filed a motion that a judge determine the source of any money that La Motte uses to post bond.

The Glendora resident also is charged with five counts of forgery for allegedly signing other people’s signatures on accounting documents, Gibbons said. He also is charged with not reporting the allegedly embezzled money on his state income tax forms for 1993 through 1995.

Gibbons said La Motte took more than 100 checks written to the court by municipalities to cover the costs of processing parking tickets.

La Motte managed the division that administered the accounts from which he allegedly embezzled the checks, officials said.

If convicted of all charges, he face up to 11 years in prison.

A phone message left for La Motte was not returned Wednesday.

Sanford said La Motte seemed to exhibit few signs of wealth. “Nothing was outstanding or different about him,” she said.