Center exec charged with embezzlement

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - The former director of a federally supported halfway house has been charged with diverting funds to her own use and failing to file tax returns, the U.S. Attorney for New Mexico announced Friday.

Robin Cash, 55, named in a seven-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury on Wednesday, was issued a summons to appear in court for arraignment.

Cash was executive director of La Pasada, a residental center for individuals in the criminal-justice system including defendants awaiting trial and former inmates reentering society.

The Pretrial Services Office, a branch of the federal courts, paid La Pasada from $60,000 to $80,000 a month for its contract services.

The indictment alleges Cash, from Sept. 2010 through Jan. 2011, used a business debit card, an ATM card and checks written to family members and then set up an unauthorized bank account in La Pasada's name to divert additional money to her use.

Some of the ATM withdrawals were at Albuquerque-area casinos, and debit charges were made at casinos in Las Vegas, Nev., according to the indictment.

Cash was paid about $45,000 a year and failed to file tax returns on $46,104 in gross income for 2008, $113,248 for 2009 and $173,526 for 2010.

The indictment charges four counts of embezzlement over $5,000 and does not list a total amount for the alleged embezzlement.

Cash faces a maximum sentence of 45 years in prison and more than $1 million in fines if convicted of all charges.

She has not yet entered a plea to the accusations.