Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Pastor Larry Pineda arrested

ArcadioPineda Pastor Arcadio “Larry” Pineda was arrested and charged with three felonies. He stands accused of incurring debt in his church’s name and then spending it to support his own lifestyle.

Arcadio "Larry" Pineda, 65, was charged Friday with three felonies — grand theft and two counts of filing false documents. Investigators with the District Attorney's Office arrested him at his Oakley home Monday and booked him into Contra Costa County Jail in Martinez on $110,000 bail.

Pineda filed falsified documents with the secretary of state and the county recorder in 2008 to gain false authority to obtain the mortgage loan that used the church building as collateral, deputy district attorney Ken McCormick said.

Financial crimes are insidious. They destroy communities and leave a trail of distrust and anger which lasts for years. What comfort will the victims find by put Pineda behind bars for10 years?

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