From: The LA Times
Date: Tuesday, March 14, 2000

Woman is accused of stealing from a college and using part of the funds to finance films.

By Sylvia Pagan Westphal

The former bookkeeper and fiscal administrator for the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles has been charged with embezzling more than $1 million from the institution—some of which was apparently used to finance the production of independent films.

Jean M. Thorbourn, 61, forged numerous checks between 1989 and 1997 by using a dean's signature stamp, misappropriating a total of $1.179 million, the district attorney's office said.

In addition to making bank, credit card, car loan and mortgage payments with money from the college, Thorbourn wrote checks to herself, her daughter, her daughter-in-law and Electronomics, a company owned by her son, court documents revealed.

"Thorbourn had a lot of leeway in that position," said Gary Judge, a senior investigator with the district attorney's office, explaining why it took so long for college officials to notice the embezzlement. She was terminated in late 1997.

Thorbourn's attorney, Stephen Jones, declined to comment on the case. His client was arrested last week and charged with 13 counts of forgery, one count of grand theft and four counts of filing false state tax returns from 1994 to 1997.

Thorbourn will be arranged next week. She is being held on $1.179 million bail—the amount of money she allegedly stole.

A district attorney's report states that in September 1997, Thorbourn was asked by her supervisor, Rabbi Lewis Barth, about $381,130 that was due from USC. For the past 30 years, Hebrew Union College has provided faculty and has essentially been the de facto Jewish studies department for USC. Thorbourn said she had given that money as a loan to a friend.

In October, however, Thorbourn admitted to Barth she had used the USC money and other college funds, totaling $411,000, to make a film titled "Jamaica Beat".

That admission spurred an investigation by college officials, who determined that she had taken more than $1.1 million. The college informed the district attorney's office of the situation, and a case was opened in November 1997, said Judge, the district attorney's investigator.

"The evidence is going to show that the money was being used for the production of movies," said Deputy Dist. Atty. Allan Fork. At least three movies were financed with the money, he said, including "Jamaica Beat," which was the only one completed.