A 60-year-old Mountain View man accused of embezzling $300,000 from his former employer in Southern California is in custody at Hawaii Community Correctional Center, awaiting extradition back to Los Angeles County.
Ronald Biebel signed a waiver of extradition Wednesday, and Hilo Circuit Judge Peter Kubota set a return hearing for April 29. If authorities from California come to Hilo take custody of Biebel before that date, that hearing will be unnecessary.
According to a felony complaint filed July 30, 2019, in California Superior Court for the County of Los Angeles, between Jan. 1, 2012, and June 18, 2019, Biebel fraudulently obtained $300,000 from K2 Industrial in Long Beach.
The grand theft charge carries a possible prison term between 16 months and three years and a possible fine of up to $10,000 upon conviction.
A Feb. 11 letter from Detective Paul Tovar of the Long Beach Police Department Financial Crimes Detail to Capt. Greg Esteban, commander of Hawaii Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division, K2 Industrial “remains desirous of criminal prosecution” of Biebel.
Biebel was arrested at about 8:45 a.m. Tuesday at his Ooaa Road residence in Hawaiian Acres.
According to a court document filed by police, Biebel admitted to his identity. He then requested a lawyer, so detectives didn’t obtain a statement from him.
Kubota set bail for Biebel at $70,000, the same amount set by California Superior Judge Timothy Weiner.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
