A former Santa Barbara County deputy probation officer has been accused of misappropriating more than $600,000.
Manuel Torres, now 64 years old, had been in charge of the Santa Barbara County Probation Peace Officers Association for 20 years.
He retired abruptly in July from the Assocation he is accused of having embezzled from.
After his retirement, a check of financial records showed that the Santa Maria man had been writing checks payable to himself.
Investigators added that he also forged a second name required on such checks.
The case is being prosecuted by the Santa Barbara County District Attorney's Office, which alleges that Torres embezzled $635,000 from the union.
Torres is also being charged with three counts of filing a false income tax return for the years between 2009 and 2011, along with eight counts of filing a false return for 2012 through to 2019.
