Ex-Officer Is Sought in LAPD Theft

An arrest order has been issued for a former Los Angeles police lieutenant accused of embezzling $22,000 from a special fund in the police chief’s office and forging the signatures of his supervisors to cover his tracks, authorities said Thursday.

Victor Siaki Liu, 56, currently the highest ranking law-enforcement officer in American Samoa, is charged with seven felony counts as a result of his alleged mishandling of the Los Angeles Police Department’s community relations activity expense fund.

The fund in question is used to pay the expenses of officers who do such things as visit schools and neighborhood groups. Liu, who was with the LAPD for 30 years, was sole administrator of the fund for 14 years until his retirement last spring. Liu was chief of the community relations section for 16 years.

The alleged thefts from the fund occurred between August, 1989, and May 16, 1992, according to a criminal complaint filed April 22. City auditors first alerted the Police Department to irregularities after a surprise February, 1992, audit that found $5,194 missing.

The LAPD’s bunco-forgery unit conducted its own investigation and discovered thousands of dollars more that could not be accounted for.

The $22,000 figure, city Controller Rick Tuttle said Thursday, may represent only a portion of the missing money. There are no pre-1989 records to examine, he said.