Slain S.F. man's widow defrauded his business
sfgate.com | 11/18/08 | $1 million | suspect: Kathy Bach | victim: Victor Bach/Seymour Apple
The widow of a slain San Francisco businessman has been convicted of 13 theft-related charges for defrauding his business and a private trust he oversaw of more than $1 million.
Kathy Bach, 57, who now lives in Redding, was married to Victor Bach, 71, who was found beaten to death at his Western Plumbing and Heating business on Treat Avenue on Oct. 31, 2003.
After his death, police discovered what prosecutors said was an elaborate scheme by Bach to cheat her husband's business as well as a trust he had been charged with supervising.
Victor Bach met shortly before his death with an attorney about a possible audit of the trust he ran for the family of a longtime friend, Seymour Apple.
Had the audit been performed, prosecutors said, Bach would have learned that as much as $800,000 had disappeared from the trust over the previous four years.
A San Francisco Superior Court jury deliberated three days before finding Kathy Bach guilty Friday of charges that involved the loss of about $350,000 from her husband's business and the $800,000 from the Apple family trust.
She was accused of signing her husband's or his partner's name to 200 checks that paid for jewelry, clothing and other luxury items. The defense argued that she could have written the checks with Bach's knowledge. The jury acquitted her of some charges and deadlocked on other theft and embezzlement charges involving Western Plumbing. (Excerpt).