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November 9, 2004

Former copy center manager arrested on suspicion of grand theft

By Ray Delgado

A former manager of the Pulse Copy Center in Tresidder Union was arrested Monday for allegedly defrauding the university and Stanford Hospital of more than $1.5 million.

The Santa Clara County District Attorney's office has charged Foster City resident Peter Trinca, 54, with one felony count of grand theft after an extensive investigation conducted by the university's Department of Public Safety, the internal audit unit and the general counsel's office.

Trinca served as senior vice president and manager of West Coast operations for College Enterprises Inc., Pulse's parent company, from 1999 to 2003. He worked from the vendor's Tresidder Union location.

Trinca provided false business statements to numerous departments and the hospital in order to receive promotions and financial incentives from his employer, according to the District Attorney's office.

Debra Zumwalt, vice president and general counsel at the university, said university officials learned of the accounting discrepancies in services provided to the university by Pulse in October 2003. The university conducted an internal investigation of the matter and confirmed more than $1.5 million in losses, the vast majority of which came from the Stanford Hospital and its clinics.

The case was forwarded to the university's Department of Public Safety for further investigation and then turned over to the District Attorney's office for prosecution, Zumwalt said.

"The university takes seriously its obligation to protect its assets and will seek the criminal prosecution of anyone who has defrauded the university and civil restitution of the monies stolen," Zumwalt said.

 

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Contact

Ray Delgado, News Service: (650) 724-5708, rdelgado@stanford.edu

Comment

Laura Wilson, Director, Stanford Department of Public Safety: (650) 723-9633, laura.wilson@stanford.edu

 

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