A former president of a West Hollywood escrow company who fled to Mexico was arraigned today on charges of stealing more than $1.3 million from his former firm, authorities said.
Alejandro Martinez, 44, was arrested Tuesday at Los Angeles International Airport.
Martinez was president of Prime West Escrow in West Hollywood between 2004 and 2009 and stole an estimated $1,324,825, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Detective Ron Sabatine said.
Martinez then fled to Mexico, and opened a restaurant, Cafe La Boheme in Merida, on the Yucatan Peninsula, Sabatine said.
Martinez praised the restaurant in a video posted on YouTube, which led to his arrest.
As detectives worked to extradite him from Mexico, Martinez inexplicably flew into Los Angeles and was arrested when Customs and Border Patrol agents spotted the felony warrant.
Martinez is next scheduled to appear in court Nov. 20.
