Former CODAC employee accused of stealing nearly $10,000

Tucson police have released details in the investigation of a man who allegedly defrauded a nonprofit agency he worked for out of nearly $10,000.

Rafael Zavala was arraigned in Pima County Superior Court on April 15 and has been charged with 31 felonies relating to forging time sheets and mileage reimbursements while working for CODAC Behavioral Health Services, court documents show.

From June 2014 to July 2015, Zavala, who worked in the technical support department, forged his supervisor’s signatures on nearly 90 percent of his mileage reimbursements and on-call pay requests, according to the Tucson police report. In total, Zavala defrauded CODAC out of roughly $9,300, police documents show.

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His boss became suspicious last June and put Zavala on administrative leave while CODAC conducted an investigation. When confronted about the situation, Zavala maintained that his supervisor had signed the forms. He was terminated the next day, according to the police report.

In August, CODAC’s attorney began sending Zavala letters, offering to let him pay the debt in installments, as opposed to a lump sum. After more than six months with no reply, CODAC contacted Tucson police in March.

Zavala has a court hearing scheduled for next month.