Ex-City Worker Charged With Grand Theft

A former city employee accused of embezzling at least $107,000 in public funds over a three-year period was arrested Friday on charges of forgery and grand theft, police said.

Rachel Lynne Hall, 28, of Burbank, surrendered Friday to the Glendale Police Department after the district attorney’s office filed 11 felony counts against her and police obtained a warrant for her arrest, said police spokesman Chahe Keuroghelian.

Hall, a clerk in the city’s permit services department, had been the subject of a police probe into missing funds in her department since July. She was fired in August after city officials conducted an internal investigation into the missing funds, but she was not arrested immediately because the criminal investigation continued, police said.

Hall’s duties included processing applications for city permits and handling large amounts of cash. In addition to being accused of misappropriating funds, she is alleged to have forged paperwork to increase the amount of leave time she was entitled to, police said.

The police probe began after an audit revealed $18,000 to $40,000 had been stolen from the department’s cash drawers. A second audit, covering three years, revealed an estimated loss of $107,000. Investigators believe the actual amount taken may be even higher, police said.

Hall was arraigned Friday afternoon in Glendale Municipal Court. She was being held in Glendale city jail on $20,000 bail.