Former city employee charged with embezzlement

DOWNEY — A former City of Downey employee was arrested last week and charged with forging invoices to order personal items and then billing the city over an 18-month period, costing the city more than $60,000.

According to prosecutors, Alejandro “Alex” Silva, 47, was a lead worker in Downey’s maintenance and facilities department. 

Beginning in 2017, another man named Mike Shafer, who worked as a manager for an auto parts store, allegedly ordered items online with a business credit card and then sent invoices to Downey officials by disguising the items as car parts. 

Silva is accused of helping Shafer by forging the appropriate paperwork to match the forged documents. As a result of the scheme, the City of Downey lost over $60,000, prosecutors said. 

Both Silva and Shafer pleaded no contest to one felony count each of embezzlement of government funds, misappropriation of public funds, and grand theft. They are scheduled to return to the Foltz Criminal Justice Center on Aug. 27 for a preliminary hearing. 

“No one should abuse their position and betray the public’s trust,” L.A. District Attorney George Gascón said in a news release announcing the arrests. 

The case was investigated by the Downey Police Department.