A former Santa Clarita city employee received four years in state prison Monday in court as part of a plea deal to charges he stole from the city.

David Rubira, 40, was arrested on May 31, 2016, following an extensive investigation by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.  Shortly thereafter, Rubira was terminated from his employment with the City of Santa Clarita.

The City subsequently hired KPMG to complete a forensic audit immediately following information received from the Sheriff’s Department regarding the then-alleged embezzlement.

“We are pleased that Mr. Rubira will be punished for his crimes and violation of the public’s trust,” commented Ken Striplin, City Manager.

Rubira oversaw developer funds deposited as part of the permit entitlement process.  These funds were required by the City and were held pending completion of required work by developers as part of their project in the City.

Rubira allegedly routed fraudulent surety refunds to fictitious companies that he created from 2012-15.

The refunds were supposed to go back to construction companies for completed city of Santa Clarita building projects.

In response, the City has already implemented new controls to strengthen internal procedures.  The audit provided the City with several recommendations which will also implement.

Read more about the city’s audit and financial system investigation, here.