Ex-Assemblyman Carl Washington arrested on bank fraud charges

Former California State Assemblyman Carl Washington, 47, was arrested on Monday in connection with defrauding three banks out of thousands of dollars, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

Washington, the ex-democratic California State Assemblyman from the 52nd district, was arrested by FBI agents on charges that he defrauded Farmers and Merchants Bank, First City Credit Union, and LA Financial Credit Union out of thousands by falsely claiming to be the victim of identity theft, officials said.

“These recent arrests should served as a clear message that this chief — and this probation department — will not tolerate criminal behavior by staff,” Probation Department Chief Jerry Powers said in a statement. “This is a law enforcement agency, and as such we will hold ourselves to a higher standard both on and off duty.” Washington was most recently employed by the Los Angeles County Probation Department.

He was charged with three counts of bank fraud and three counts of making a false statement to a federally insured financial institution. The indictment alleges that Washington obtained credit cards and loans from financial institutions that he used to purchase several thousand dollars worth of goods and services.

After using the credit cards to make the purchases, Washington allegedly filed a police report with the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, falsely claiming to be the victim of identity theft, and reporting that the credit cards and loans had been opened by someone else, officials said.