Former LA County Retirement System employee charged with grand theft

LOS ANGELES — A former interim chief security officer for the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association has been charged with a half-dozen felony counts, including grand theft, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday.

Carmelo Marquez, 42, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to one count of grand theft, two counts of perjury and three counts of conflict of interest.

He allegedly used his position with the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association to illegally funnel public contracts worth roughly $120,000 through his own firm and pocketed $19,904 through those transactions, according to a statement released by the District Attorney’s Office.

Marquez — who initially worked as an independent contractor doing information security work for LACERA and was appointed interim chief security officer for the association in February 2023 — is accused of failing to disclose under penalty of perjury that he had launched a business that sold software products and provided technical support directly to LACERA, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

“Public service is meant to be a position of trust, not a way for people to enrich themselves through fraudulent actions,” District Attorney Nathan Hochman said in the statement. “This is an example of why government employees must sign disclosure forms from the California Fair Political Practices Commission so there is full transparency.”

Marquez was recently sued by LACERA in a lawsuit alleging fraud, breach of fiduciary duty and conflict of interest, and no longer works for the association, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

A date is scheduled to be set July 17 for a hearing to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to allow the case against Marquez to proceed to trial.

If convicted as charged, he faces up to six years and eight months in state prison, according to the District Attorney’s Office.