Former LA firefighters union official Adam Walker arrested, charged with stealing nearly $83,000 from nonprofit

LOS ANGELES () — A former official of the Los Angeles firefighters union and chairman of the organization’s nonprofit foundation has been arrested and charged after allegedly transferring nearly $83,000 from the foundation to his personal account, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Adam Walker, former secretary of United Firefighters of Los Angeles City, is charged with one felony count each of grand theft by an employee or agent and forgery related to items exceeding $950 in value, according to a criminal complaint.

A joint task force from the California Department of Justice and the L.A. County district attorney’s office discovered last June that Walker allegedly stole $82,914.24 from the nonprofit foundation between December 2022 and January 2024, according to a statement issued by the office of California Attorney General Rob Bonta.

“Investigators found that Walker opened a foundation bank account naming himself as the sole signer and used the account to systematically shift the foundation funds into his personal accounts via intrabank transfers,” the news release said. “He attempted to conceal the theft from auditors by fabricating personal credit card reimbursements and using online services to forge fake receipts.”

Investigators discovered that the stolen funds were allegedly used for personal expenses, including online gambling, authorities said.

“We are going to protect public monies,” L.A. County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said at a virtual news conference. “We’re going to protect nonprofit monies. We’re going to go after the fraudsters who are trying to rip them off.”

The case is being co-prosecuted by the Department of Justice’s Special Prosecutions Section and the D.A.’s office.

It was not immediately clear when Walker would be arraigned.

“While the case is ongoing, any allegations of felony grand theft are deeply troubling and taken very seriously,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement released shortly after the charges were announced. “I’ve spoken with Chief (Jaime) Moore, and I want to thank our state and local law enforcement partners for their work to hold this person — and anyone who commits crime — accountable.”

City News Service contributed to this report.