Man Stole $325K From Famed Laguna Beach Restaurant: Police

LAGUNA BEACH, CA — A 46-year-old man pleaded not guilty Monday to embezzling roughly $325,000 from The Cliff Restaurant in Laguna Beach.

Ernesto Jose Frias Ybarra was charged May 13, 2025 with seven counts of grand theft embezzlement and seven counts of money laundering, all felonies, with sentencing enhancements for aggravated white collar crime between $100,000 to $500,000, court records show.

Ybarra denied the charges and bail was set at $325,000 Monday, according to court records.

He was accused of money laundering and embezzlement from December 2023 through June of 2024, according to the criminal complaint.

Ybarra is next due in court of a pretrial hearing July 28 in the Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach.

Ybarra was arrested in March of last year on suspicion of embezzling more than $300,000 from the Mojave Desert Land Trust, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department.

City News Service contributed to this report.