A jury has convicted a Juneau woman for stealing nearly $28,000 of her employer’s money, but acquitted her on a less serious charge of forgery.
Rosalinda Ainza, 35, was charged after her last day of work at Coldwell Banker Race Realty in June 2015.
Trial in Juneau Superior Court started Nov. 13 and closing arguments were Nov. 20.
The nine-man, three-woman jury spent three hours deliberating before returning with a verdict.
The money was part of the firm’s property management trust account that was used to deposit tenants’ rent money and then pay out property management expenses.
Ainza was accused, as an example, of taking a rent check and writing her own name in as payee – with the check writer’s consent – and then depositing the check in her own personal account.
Ainza also was accused of spending money from the property management account for clothes, trips down south and tickets to the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, among some of the items.
Ainza took the stand in her own defense during the trial.
During closing arguments, Ainza’s defense attorney Nicholas Polasky noted that she declined to take a salary draw for the last three months she was employed with the firm.
Polasky said Ainza tried to get a credit card and bank loan to repay the money, and left behind a letter and additional records for her former employers specifying what she had done.
Polasky said Ainza made no attempt to hide what she had done.
Assistant District Attorney Amy Paige countered by saying even though Coldwell Banker Race Realty could still pay its bills, it doesn’t mean the money wasn’t still missing and doesn’t mean the money wasn’t stolen from property owners.
Ainza was originally indicted for theft and forgery by a Juneau grand jury in February 2016.
A sentencing hearing on the theft conviction is scheduled for Jan. 10.
Correction: In an earlier version of this story, the business affected was misidentified. It’s named Coldwell Banker Race Realty, not Caldwell Banker Race Realty.
