Former Times Employee Held in $800,000 Theft From Paper

The former editorial business director of The Times was arrested Wednesday at his Chino Hills home on a warrant charging him with stealing nearly $800,000 from the newspaper by approving payment for freelance articles that were never published, the district attorney’s office said.

Prosecutors said Charles Boesch, 53, a 34-year employee of the paper, is scheduled for arraignment this morning in Los Angeles Municipal Court on one count of grand theft. Bail was set at $800,000.

Boesch’s former son-in-law, Michael Wayne Coburn, 27, will be arraigned today on a similar charge in connection with the case, officials said. Coburn was arrested Wednesday at his home in La Verne. His bail was set at $500,000.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Brent Collier said a third suspect, Jacqueline Barrios, 20, of Los Angeles, remains at large.

Collier said that between Aug. 17, 1993, and Jan. 29 of this year, Boesch approved invoices to purchase freelance articles for various sections of the newspaper. After Boesch approved these expenses, they were forwarded to the paper’s accounting department for payment.

During an audit earlier this year, invoices for articles never published were discovered, Collier said. He said these invoices had been made payable to Coburn, Barrios and another person who was not charged. Boesch was fired in July, the prosecutor said.

If convicted, Boesch and Coburn could be sentenced to a maximum of five years in state prison, authorities said. Barrios faces a maximum prison term of three years.

The Times issued a statement saying that it has been cooperating in the investigation for several months. Because of the decision to prosecute, it would not be appropriate to comment further, the newspaper said.