The owner of a Juneau realty group noticed unusual activity by some of his tenants last year: they were trying to make non-certified payments for rent and deposits.
Mike Race had a bookkeeper look into it to find out if payments like this were accounted for. The bookkeeper discovered more than $20,000 missing from the books. Shortly after, an employee resigned.
A Juneau grand jury indicted Rosalinda Ainza, 33, Feb. 5. for first-degree theft and second-degree forgery in connection to misused funds and altered documents while she worked as a real estate agent for Coldwell Banker Race Realty.
First-degree theft is a class B felony that can carry up to 10 years in prison and a maximum fine of $100,000, and second-degree forgery is a class C felony that can carry up to five years behind bars and a $50,000 fine.
Mike Race, the realty group owner, said tenants began asking last year about dropping off checks in person or paying in cash, both which he said are not certified forms of payment because they cannot be tracked.
“So and so used to pick it up all the time,” Race told the Empire in October after charges were filed against Ainza, describing calls tenants made to the company.
“We had one client come in and make a check out to Coldwell and by the time that cleared, Ainza’s name was in front of it, and the bank was standing up to any of the checks that were monkeyed with,” Race said.
According to an affidavit filed Sept. 24, Ainza’s name appeared at least once in front of a $1,800 check initially made out to the realty group, and the handwriting of the altered portion matched writing by Ainza on other checks.
Race said Ainza resigned June 6 and apologized in a letter for misusing approximately $20,000. A bookkeeper later calculated the true amount to be $27,816.89.
Two days after her resignation, managing broker Errol Champion contacted the Juneau Police Department. The Juneau District Attorney’s office filed an affidavit three months later in September. Ainza did not appear in court until October and her indictment followed four months later.
The affidavit states that JPD Detective Sterling Salisbury interviewed Ainza in October and she told him that she began misusing the funds when she was working full-time and enrolled in school. She wrote checks to herself and to a family member using the company account.
“Ainza stated she intended to use the property management account as a personal expense account and to reconcile it before anyone noticed,” Assistant District Attorney Amy Paige wrote in the affidavit. Ainza told Salisbury she has since applied for loans and credit cards to start paying the money back.
Ainza entered a not guilty plea in court during her arraignment Feb. 10.
“I do not agree with the accusations that have been made. Since this case is pending, it would not be appropriate for me to publicly comment on details,” Ainza told the Empire by phone Wednesday.
“The Juneau community means everything to me,” she added. “As this case proceeds, I will continue to put forth effort into my local nonprofit and global humanitarian work. I’ll do so with continued honesty and dignity, and with the hope that this does not ruin my spirit or my relationship with the community.”
Ainza’s next scheduled court date is March 3 before Judge Louis Menendez, with trial dates set for late April.
