inyocourthouseAt a preliminary hearing last week, Dawndee and Ken Rossy of Bishop were held to answer to nearly 60 charges in the case involving the alleged embezzlement of $1.5 million from the Inyo County Welfare Department. They both remain out of jail on GPS monitoring.

Assistant District Attorney Joel Samuels said that he filed a third amended complaint, including over 60 counts, at the preliminary hearing. He said the defendants were held to answer on all but five or six counts.

Samuels said both Dawndee and Ken Rossy face charges of theft or embezzlement of public funds or conspiracy to do so, identity theft or conspiracy to steal identities, and filing false or no tax returns. There are also additional counts of alleged forgery by Dawndee Rossy. The DA alleges that she placed false information in government records.

The next phase of this case involves the filing of more information and evidence – as many as 430 exhibits. Additionally, testimony revealed that in 2009 the County Social Services Department changed the way computer systems were used. The operations went from hard copies only to scanned documents with the policy to retain hard copies. Samuels alleges that some documents were not scanned and had no hard back-up.

The couple will appear for arraignment on charges October 15th in Independence before visiting Judge Hammer. Samuels said if the Rossys do not waive time, a trial could be scheduled in 60 days.

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