Man Indicted On 600 Counts Of Embezzlement

Man Indicted On 600 Counts Of Embezzlement

Former VFW Officer Accused Of Stealing VFW Money

POSTED: 6:40 pm MDT September 16, 2008
UPDATED: 7:28 pm MDT September 16, 2008


It is an embezzlement case, that Veterans of Foreign Wars members just can't make sense of -- one of their own is accused of draining the VFW's bank account.

"He needs to be ashamed of himself, he needs to be ashamed of himself for taking from veterans," said Fred Ortiz, a Veteran's Service officer with the VFW.

A grand jury indictment was just filed against Joe Salas.

Ortiz said, "He was the adjutant quarter master, he handled all of the monies that came in from all of the posts throughout the state."

It was a big position that left him in charge of a lot of money.

But Ortiz said Salas took more than $200,000 that was suppose to benefit veterans.

Ortiz claims he was stealing for years without anyone catching on.

"He knew better," said Ortiz. "He knew how the funds were distributed."

The grand jury decided to indict Salas with more than 600 criminal counts.

His daughter faces charges too.

Robin Hammer, a deputy district attorney, said, "She was also an employee of VFW and she was working with him."

The daughter, Claudine Sanchez, faces 15 counts connected to embezzlement.

Salas faces 652 counts.

Hammer said he spent the money on anything he wanted.

"Such as cruises jewelry for his wife and his girlfriend, restaurants, stores at the mall, anything you could think of basically living well beyond his means," said Hammer.

From hotel rooms to groceries to ATM withdrwals, he reportedly did the most damage with a credit card he took out in the VFW's name, according to the prosecutor.

Ortiz said, "Because that money was missing and we had no money to operate with we had to sell our building, our state building."

What remains unclear is how someone they trusted is now accused of working against them.

The grand jury indicted Salas and his daughter on Monday.

Both will soon go before a judge for their arraignments.

Tuesday night by phone, Salas' attorney wouldn't comment on the indictment.

He'd only say they're looking forward to defending the case in court.

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