1234
2017 Staffing
Attorneys23
Investigators 11
Paralegals10
Support Staff11
Law Clerks/Students2
Total57

Economic crimes often have dire consequences, from destroying family equity in a property to rendering corporate stocks worthless to shareholders. These crimes may be committed by individuals against institutions or other individuals. The Economic Crimes Division is responsible for prosecuting a wide variety of wrongdoing, including computer intrusion, identity theft, investment scams, embezzlements, real estate matters, counterfeit goods, environmental crimes and the theft of public assistance funds. The division also acts to protect consumers and businesses by successfully filing numerous civil cases to prohibit unfair business practices within the marketplace. The division was led by Chief Damon Mosler and Assistant Chief Victor Barr in 2017.

Cases of note included:

People v. Matthew Mazur and Carlos Manjarrez
The defendants in this case conspired to dupe 17 investors, many of whom were elderly, into fronting $4.7 million for a syringe product that was never produced. A jury convicted the defendant s of over 30 felonies, including grand theft and fraud. Mazur was sentenced to 35 years in prison.

People v. Robert Young
The defendant convinced terminally ill people into paying for and accepting his sodium bicarbonate treatment as a cure for their illness. Sadly, it was not. A jury convicted the defendant of practicing medicine without a license and he was sentenced to three years and eight months in custody.

People v. YMCA
Due to the improper handling of a large chlorine spill, a chlorine gas plume sent 77 children to the hospital. The agency and its facilities director were prosecuted and admitted disposing of the chlorine in the storm drain as well improperly handling the spill, which caused injuries to the children while they were at their elementary school.

People v. Kevin Tran

The defendant pleaded guilty to unauthorized access to a computer system to delete or destroy information. The defendant had illegally accessed the school accounts of over 150 female UCSD students. From there the defendant was able to view all of their search history and take passwords to access and hijack the victims’ social media accounts.