Audit Shows $294,000 Missing : Couple Suspected of Plot to Bilk MCA

An MCA Inc. accounting-office supervisor and her husband were arrested Thursday in connection with a forgery scheme that bilked the Universal City entertainment conglomerate of $294,000 last summer, Los Angeles police said.

Forgery detectives arrested Cynthia Zale, 31, and Steven Zale, 30, at their Van Nuys home about 7 a.m. after a 3 1/2-week investigation. The investigation was triggered when a routine audit found that the money was missing, Lt. Duane Gansemer said.

Cynthia Zale, who has worked in the company’s accounting office since 1974, is suspected of stealing five checks written to businesses that MCA deals with and then, in “an elaborate scheme,” of having the checks cashed at banks in the San Fernando Valley, Gansemer said.

He would not disclose which banks cashed the checks, but said the transactions occurred from June to August.

He said no other MCA employees are suspected.

Universal Studios Suit

Gansemer, commanding officer of the LAPD’s Valley Forgery Section, would not reveal exactly how the operation worked and would not comment on Steven Zale’s role in the alleged theft because the investigation is continuing. However, a suit against the couple filed later Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court by Universal Studios, which is owned by MCA, provided some details of how the operation allegedly worked.

In the civil suit, Universal attorney Walter Weiss alleged that Cynthia Zale had altered the invoice number on several checks written to the Los Angeles advertising firm of Doyle, Dane, Bernbach Inc.

In the suit, Universal contends that, after the advertising agency was paid and the cashed checks were returned to the accounting office, Zale altered the checks’ invoice numbers and put the new numbers into a computer listing unpaid bills.

According to the suit she altered the name of the payee slightly to make it look like that of an individual--Doyle, Dane, Bernbach Inc. becoming Doyle Dane Bernbach. The money was then paid to an account held in the name of Doyle Dane Bernbach at a Bank of America branch in Sherman Oaks, the suit alleges.

Neither Weiss nor other Universal representatives were available for comment on the suit.

Home Searched

The arrests came after police served search warrants at the couple’s home and at S. J. Zale Jewelry Co. in Sherman Oaks. The company, which is not connected to the Zales Jewelers chain, is owned by Steven Zale.

However, no trace of the money was found at either place, Gansemer said.

The Zales were booked on suspicion of forgery and released on $1,000 bail each, Gansemer said. He said police will ask the district attorney to file charges against the couple on Monday.

Michael Lanzarone, director of corporate security at MCA, would not comment on the case except to say that Cynthia Zale is on maternity leave. He would not say how long ago she went on leave or whether her child has been born.

Times staff writer Dorothy Townsend contributed to this story.