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Tuolumne County District Attorney’s Office investigators Tuesday arrested a county transportation planner who is suspected of using county resources for personal use and racking up a $950 phone bill over two years. Mahesh Sukumar, 32, of the 300 block of Woodside Drive, Sonora, faces felony charges of unauthorized use of computer systems, fraudulently obtaining telephone services and grand theft, according to the DAs Office.
“An arrest warrant was obtained following an investigation which produced evidence that Sukumar was brokering airline tickets from his work-station during work hours using the county computer system and telephone services,” the DAs statement said. He did not use county funding to purchase the tickets but made thousands of phone calls, according to the DAs Office. According to the criminal complaint filed Tuesday in the Tuolumne County Superior Court, Sukumar is charged with felony grand theft by embezzlement. Between Dec. 14, 2009 and April 23, 2012, he allegedly took $950 from the Tuolumne County Transportation Council, and during the same period of time committed felony computer access and fraud by using computer services that exceeded $950, according to the complaint. Sukumar is also charged with felony obtaining telephone and telegraph services by fraud and allegedly charged the service of an existing telephone number and credit card number without authority, the complaint said. Sukumar is on a work visa, here from native India, and was ordered to surrender his passport as he has a valid Mexican visa as well, according to court records. He is being held on $75,000 bail. |