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Twenty-two criminal charges were dismissed last month against Matthew Ryan Mitchell who was accused, along with a former California credit union employee, of stealing more than $400,000.
Nineteen charges remain against Karli Alicia Aubry, who worked as a manager at the $54.8 million Huntington Beach Credit Union (HBCU). A pretrial hearing for her case is scheduled for February, with a preliminary hearing set for March, according to Orange County court records.
In 2022, Aubry pleaded not guilty to 19 felony counts of grand theft by embezzlement, theft, forgery, identity theft, money laundering, filing false or forged documents, making a false statement and fraud. Mitchell pleaded not guilty to the same felonies, as well as to mortgage fraud allegations.
Available online court filings did not say why Mitchell’s charges were dismissed.
The Orange County Prosecutor’s office did not respond to CU Times’ requests for comments. Mitchell’s attorney also did not respond to CU Times’ requests for comment.
The alleged crimes, which allegedly occurred from 2015 to 2018, were discovered during a February 2019 HBCU board meeting that reviewed several loan packages approved by Aubry, according to a 2021 felony complaint from the Orange County District Attorney’s office.
Prosecutors alleged Aubry used forged signatures and a falsified appraisal to approve a $265,000 home equity line of credit for Mitchell. The loan was tied to a residence in Corona, Calif. A legitimate appraisal valued the property at $354,500, but it was allegedly altered to $534,500 to qualify for a larger loan.
When the home was sold in June 2018 with the loan still outstanding, HBCU should have received a payoff from the sale. However, a forged document made it appear the loan had been repaid prior to the sale, according to prosecutors.
In addition, board-reviewed documents also included two auto loans allegedly taken out by Aubry and Mitchell, but one of the vehicles did not exist; the other was owned by a third party. The funds from these loans were deposited into Mitchell’s account. Prosecutors alleged he moved some of the money between his accounts and those held by Aubry.
From April 2022 to November 2025, there were more than 20 court hearings held in this case, court filings showed. On Nov. 14, all charges against Mitchell were dismissed.
Peter Strozniak can be reach at peter.strozniak@arc-network.com.
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