Investigator, attorneys detail alleged R.C. inheritance theft

When Monrovia fire Capt. Fernando Rodriguez killed his wife then killed himself in June 2006, the couple left about $750,000 in inheritance money for their three children.

In a suicide note, Rodriguez said he wanted his friends Richard and Yvonne Reyes, who he met through his kids' youth sports, to raise the children, said an attorney for Rodriguez's parents.

The deceased mother's family agreed, as did an attorney for the children. The Reyeses, of Rancho Cucamonga, were granted temporary guardianship of the children in September 2006.

Over the next 18 months, the Reyeses used the children's $750,000 inheritance -- from their parents' pension benefits, life insurance, and social security -- as a personal discretionary fund, said Casey Hull, an attorney who represents Fernando Rodriguez's parents.

In single visits to the bank, Richard and Yvonne Reyes would withdraw tens of thousands of dollars in cash from the kids' accounts, Hull said. By June 2008 or July 2008, the $750,000 was all but drained.

The Reyeses have refused to answer questions about what happened to the money, Hull and investigators said.

"They got $750,000 over 18 months," Hull said. "When they were hauled into court on it, they basically said they had no more left."

Prosecutors last week charged Richard Reyes, 50, with seven felony counts, including three counts of grand theft and two counts each of forgery and using a forged instrument for filing. Yvonne Reyes, 48, is charged with three counts of grand theft.

Richard and Yvonne Reyes each remain jailed in lieu of $1.4 million. They have pleaded not guilty to the charges, and are scheduled to appear Thursday morning for a hearing in West Valley Superior Court.

Below: the Reyes' mug shots.

On June 13, 2006, Fernando Rodriguez, 41, shot and killed 33-year-old Katherine Rodriguez at about 1:40 p.m. in an employee parking lot at City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte.

Rodriguez, a Monrovia fireman since 1990, then shot himself. He died at a local hospital, police investigators said at the time of the incident.

The Rancho Cucamonga couple had separated, and they used City of Hope as a "neutral ground" to meet for conversations, a Monrovia city spokesman said after the shooting.

Katherine Rodriguez was the director of office management at Vocational Improvement Program, a Rancho Cucamonga nonprofit organization that helps disabled people find jobs.

After the couple's death, several families, including Fernando Rodriguez's parents, Fernando and Andrea Rodriguez of Los Angeles, applied for guardianship of the kids, Hull said.

Fernando and Andrea Rodriguez now have permanent custody of the children, Hull said.

During the guardianship battle, attorneys involved began to suspect that the kids' inheritance had been allegedly stolen, Hull said.

"(The Reyeses) had a big lifestyle," Hull said. "They spent a lot of money on their home. They had a beautiful home. ... They supported their lifesyle with (the children's) money, basically."

Jeff Neeley, who investigated the case for the San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office, said he has been unable to locate where the Reyes allegedly spent the children's money.

Neeley said he suspects there may have been other people involved in the alleged theft, but he said he hasn't substantiated his suspicions.

Neeley said he is still reviewing 1,400 to 1,500 pages of the Reyeses' bank records, and will continue to investigate possible links to family members and businesses associated with the Reyes family.

The fraud charges against Richard Reyes were filed because he is accused of forging court documents, then using the documents to access Fernando Rodriguez's state pension benefits, which were set aside for children, Neeley said.

"This wasn't a situation where they didn't know better, or they made mistakes managing money," Neeley said. "The court was very clear about the duties and responsibilities of guardianship."

Neeley said he was unsure how the children might recover their inheritance money if the theft by the Reyeses is proved in criminal or civil court.

The Reyeses' home in the 14000 block of Frost Drive has been in default since December, Neeley said, so he doesn't believe the children can recover money through liquidation of the home, Neeley said.

"If there were something there I would definitely go after it," he said.

Neeley said that the children were unaware of the money left by their parents until after the alleged theft. The oldest child, Fernando Rodriguez, now 18, told Neeley the only money he ever received from the Reyeses was $5 a day for lunch money, Neeley said.

"My belief is that Mr. Reyes believed he would get permanent guardianship of these children, and then no one would know" of the stolen inheritance, Neeley said.