The United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California announced today that Marta E. Soto, age 54, of San Francisco, CA, was indicted by a federal grand jury on nine counts of theft and embezzlement from an employee benefit plan, in violation of Title 18 U.S.C. Section 664. 

According to the indictment, from October 7, 1998 to June 1, 2002, Ms. Soto is alleged to have embezzled at least $52,996.51 in pension funds belonging to the East Bay Restaurant and Tavern Retirement Plan.  The East Bay Restaurant and Tavern Retirement Plan is an employee pension benefit plan as defined in the Employment Retirement Income Security Act ("ERISA") section (2)(A).  Ms. Soto was employed as a Pension Analyst for Associated Third Party Administrators, a firm that administers pension benefits for the East Bay Restaurant and Tavern Retirement Plan.  In connection with the scheme, Ms. Soto allegedly issued pension benefit checks to her friends and relatives which they were not entitled to. 

The maximum statutory penalty for each count in violation of 18 U.S.C. Section 664 is five years and a fine of $250,000, plus restitution if appropriate.  However, any sentence following conviction would be dictated by the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of factors, and would be imposed at the discretion of the Court.  An indictment simply contains allegations against an individual and, as with all defendants, Ms. Soto must be presumed innocent unless and until convicted.

The defendant made her initial appearance in federal court in San Francisco on May 29, 2003.  Bail was set at $100,000.  The defendant's next scheduled appearance is at 1:30 pm on June 18, 2003 for trial setting before Judge Hamilton.

The prosecution is the result of an investigation by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration, and the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations.  Christina Hua is the Assistant U.S. Attorney who is prosecuting the case.