Business & Tech
Grand Theft Charge Dropped Against Hacienda Cantina and Beach Club Bookkeeper
D.A.'s spokesman John Hall said in a statement that "justice in this case required that the case be dismissed."
INDIO, CA - A grand theft charge was dismissed Friday against the former bookkeeper of a now-shuttered Palm Springs restaurant owned by developer Richard Meaney, who now faces multiple felony charges for bribing former Palm Springs Mayor Steve Pougnet.
Robert Wills, 59, of Palm Springs, was charged with grand theft last May for allegedly forging Meaney's wife's signature on 20 checks and stealing 10 pre-signed checks over the course of six months, netting him $26,280 while he was employed at the Hacienda Cantina and Beach Club.
The charge was dismissed during a Friday morning hearing at the Larson Justice Center in Indio, just over a month after Meaney, developer John Wessman and Pougnet were charged with multiple felony counts including bribery and conspiracy.
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The District Attorney's Office did not confirm whether the dismissal of Wills' case had any relation to the charges filed against Meaney.
D.A.'s spokesman John Hall said in a statement that "justice in this case required that the case be dismissed."
Find out what's happening in Palm Desertfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
A declaration in support of an arrest warrant alleged that Wills signed Hacienda owner Heidi Watney's name on $13,400 worth of checks and deposited the funds into his bank account.
Comparisons between the checks Wills allegedly deposited and other checks signed by Watney showed that the signatures did not match, according to the declaration.
Wills was additionally accused of stealing 10 checks totaling $12,880 that were pre-signed and kept in the business' safe for emergency purposes. Police alleged that four surveillance photos taken at a local bank show Wills depositing checks that were later found to be forged.
Wills was arrested on May 1 by Palm Springs police. He has no prior felony convictions in Riverside County.
The restaurant shut down in November 2015 amid allegations regarding Meaney and his relationship with Pougnet.
Meaney faces the possibility of 12 years in state prison if convicted on nine charges of bribing a public official and one count of conspiracy to commit a crime.
– By City News Service / Image via Shutterstock
