RIVERSIDE - An indictment charging two men with defrauding the Pechanga Tribe of Temecula out of more than $4 million was unsealed in Riverside County Superior Court Thursday.

James William Riley, 46, and Ryan Jay Robinson, 39, were arrested earlier this week.

Riley served a broker for a majority of the insurance for the Pechanga Tribe. He is facing charges of grand theft, commercial bribery and money laundering.

Robinson is the former chief financial officer for the Pechanga Resort & Casino and Tribal
Government Center. His indictment alleges grand theft and commercial bribery.

District Attorney Rod Pacheco said the crimes occurred in 2006 and ’07.

The indictment states that Riley took advantage of the precarious circumstances within the insurance market created by Hurricane Katrina by misrepresenting the amounts of insurance premiums. In doing so he overcharged the Pechanga Development Center by more than $4 million. (INT)

Story Date: September 2, 2010