Two years in slammer for Sonoma embezzler

Daniel Broin has gone from managing affordable housing to living in the Big House.

Broin has been sentenced to two years in prison for embezzling over $135,000 from the Finnish American Home Association (FAHA) when he was the nonprofit’s executive director.

The Sonoma facility provides affordable housing assistance for the needy and elderly.

Broin, 57, was hired to head FAHA in November of 2010. Prosecutors said he almost immediately began embezzling funds by writing checks from a business account to pay his personal rent and to buy a camper. He also used FAHA funds to pay for an attorney who represented him in a civil suit.

Additionally, he made large cash withdraws from business accounts to buy money orders made payable to himself or his personal bank accounts. He was arrested in 2016. A second suspect, Ayrick Michael Broin, was also charged for the crimes.

District Attorney Ravitch stated, “As Executive Director of a nonprofit organization, Mr. Broin was in a position of trust which he abused from the beginning for his personal gain.  This type of theft impacts not only the victim organization but the community as a whole.”

This matter was investigated by Detective Piersol with the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department and was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Amy Ariyoshi.