Here’s a an auditor from Pima County, Arizona who apparently opted to steal from the HOA rather than the taxpayers. Joshua Bonillas was the HOA bookkeeper for Presidio Villas 2. His day job as county auditor paid him $60,000 per year. He admits to stealing $45,000 from his neighbors via the HOA bank account by forging the treasurer’s signature on the checks.
I have a few questions for him. He’s claiming he stole the money because of his ill children. Did he not have health insurance for him and his family through his county job? If so, how did he end up needing $45,000 to pay medical bills? Why didn’t he put that money on a credit card? Or take a second mortgage on his house? Or set up a GoFundMe account? And why didn’t he steal from the taxpayers instead of his neighbors?
Here’s my opinion of why he chose the HOA for his piggy bank. I’m one who believes if a person will steal one thing they will steal anything. In this case, I don’t think he thought he’d ever get caught stealing from the HOA. As a county auditor, he knew if he stole from the county funds his risks for getting caught and going to jail were much greater. So, he opted to steal where his could play the “my kids were sick” card on his neighbors so as to pull their sympathetic heartstrings and appease them with an “I’m sorry” and walk away with a promise to repay the HOA. Repay when, Mr. Bonillas? In this lifetime or your next? We all know HOAs rarely recover anything when a thief steals the cash. It’s always chalked up to the “we should have known better” or “it was our fault” for not having two signatures required on the checks. In this case, he was not only stealing the money he was forging the signature. I just wonder if the $45,000 was the total he stole or if there’s more to the story? Read more: