Couple Plead Guilty to Diverting Cash From Fund
A La Verne couple accused of pocketing proceeds from the sale of more than $10 million in goods donated to blind athletes has pleaded guilty to fraud and obstruction of justice.
Orange County Superior Court Judge John J. Ryan in Santa Ana, where the case was moved from San Bernardino County, unsealed pleas Friday that Steven and Denise Oleesky made on June 22.
Steven Oleesky, a businessman with offices in Ontario, pleaded guilty to 59 felony counts of fraud and obstruction of justice. Denise Oleesky pleaded guilty to 48 felony counts. Two attorneys and three private investigators also have been charged in the case.
The Oleeskys could end up serving only two or three years in prison, San Bernardino County Deputy Dist. Atty. Larry Roberts said.
Prosecutors say the Oleeskys signed up as fund-raising agents for the California Assn. of Blind Athletes, took possession of $10 million worth of food and other donated goods, and sold them.
They allegedly used some of the proceeds to pay for a campaign of harassment against Steven Oleesky’s ex-wife, Claudia, with whom he was battling over custody of their son. Investigators hired by Oleesky placed a hidden camera in the ex-wife’s bedroom and eavesdropped on her phone calls, prosecutors said.
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