CSUN Workers Arrested

The former manager and assistant manager of the Cal State Northridge computer store face trial on criminal charges for allegedly stealing personal computers, memory chips and other electronic merchandise worth more than $150,000, authorities said.

Viggen Babayan, 43, and his girlfriend, Anahid Nejad, 37, have been charged with grand theft by embezzlement and receiving stolen goods--felony crimes that carry penalties of up to five years in prison, Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. Beth Silverman said. The date of their preliminary hearing will be decided Sept. 18.

The couple have pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The thefts are prompting the closure of NetWorks, the CSUN computer and electronics store situated inside the school’s Matador Bookstore, according to Don Miller, associate director and controller of the University Corp., an auxiliary of CSUN that operates the concession independent of campus funding.

More than $260,000 was stolen from the store last year, the largest such loss in the history of campus concessions. Authorities believe most of the loss to be linked to the couple. University Corp. officials plan to close NetWorks once they are free of a contract obligation to a computer manufacturer, saying the outlet has turned out to be more trouble than it is worth.

“It is a risky business. That is why we are closing it down,” Miller said.

Babayan served as manager and Nejad was assistant manager until their dismissal last year.

Babayan had hired Nejad, Miller said.

During a search of Babayan’s La Crescenta home on July 2, 1996, CSUN Police Lt. Mike Sugar, who supervised the investigation, said authorities seized computers, memory chips and photographs that showed Babayan sitting in front of four laptop computers in his living room.

“They also found records of sales of memory chips, Apple 5300 computers, laptops,” Sugar said. “Boxes [found in the house] had serial numbers that matched with those of the stolen computers.”

Authorities also found advertisements in the Recycler newspaper allegedly taken out by Babayan and Nejad, offering computers and memory chips at bargain prices, Sugar said.

Sugar said the pair surrendered to police July 19, 1996. They are each free on $100,000 bail. Court proceedings have been delayed in part because of the large volume of documents in the case, authorities said.

Investigators allege that beginning in August 1995, Babayan and Nejad stole merchandise worth more than $150,000 from NetWorks. The couple face charges of receipt of stolen goods in connection with store property allegedly found in their possession.

Babayan was released from his job on March 13, 1996. University Corp. officials would not give the reason for his termination.

Sugar said a video surveillance tape shows Nejad arriving at the store on March 14, 1996, with empty bags that she and a student worker, also hired by Babayan, allegedly used to remove compact disc players and other electronic items. The student, who later agreed in a civil settlement to pay $1,695 in restitution, could be called to testify as a witness in the case.

Sugar said an audit was ordered when Nejad failed to return to work after March 14. It found that computers, memory chips, software, purchasing documents and sales records were missing.

Sugar said NetWorks sold only computers and related items, but Babayan allegedly ordered stereo equipment through the store on his own. Miller said vendors began calling the store demanding payment for items allegedly ordered by Babayan after he no longer worked there.

Investigators found Babayan had deposited $138,000 into his personal checking account between August 1995 and June 1996, Sugar said.

“After he lost his job [at NetWorks], he was still making large cash deposits,” Sugar said. “He also received a personal check of $195,000 that went into his personal checking account. These were unexplained sources of income.”

Sugar said investigators also have tracked down a customer who allegedly purchased equipment from Babayan through an ad in the Recycler. “He [Babayan] was placing so many ads in the Recycler that the paper thought he was a commercial seller,” he said.

Alex Kessel, the attorney representing Babayan, said his client is innocent. “CSUN has a big auditing problem,” Kessel said.

Ronald Hedding, Nejad’s attorney, said his client has done nothing wrong.

“I am a former student of CSUN. . . . There’s a lot of funny things going on there. If there’s a loss, it didn’t come from my client,” Hedding said.

Hedding said Babayan was charged with the thefts only after complaining to a state agency about his termination.

The surveillance videotape, Hedding said, “is very unclear.”

Hedding said the stolen materials may have been used to supply the Arts Center in Pasadena, a retail outlet controlled by the University Corp. University Corp. officials deny that.

Silverman said investigators have so far collected evidence showing more than $150,000 worth of merchandise missing from the NetWorks store. The University Corp. estimated losses from the computer theft at $264,591 in its 1996 annual report.

“NetWorks experienced a shrinkage of $264,591 due to suspected internal fraud. The results of the University Corporation’s investigation into the matter have been referred to the local district attorney’s office,” the report said. Insurance paid for $120,000 of the losses, Miller said.

Following a directive from trustees of the Cal State University system to generate more revenues, the University Corp. turned over management of the Matador Bookstore last month to Follett College Stores, one of the largest private college bookstore operators in the country.

The University Corp. is a self-financed, nonprofit CSUN auxiliary responsible for nearly all of the school’s concessions, including the bookstore, campus vending machines, a convenience store, restaurants, the University Village student apartments and College Court townhomes.

The corporation, which had $19 million in sales last year, also administers endowments, student projects and all faculty research grants to CSUN from state, federal and other agencies. It is governed by a 17-member board, chaired by CSUN President Blenda J. Wilson.