Daniel Broin Sentenced to Two Years in Prison for Theft from Finnish American Home Association

Defendant Daniel Broin, 57 years old of Napa, was sentenced on Wednesday March 21st by the Honorable Judge Averill to serve two years in prison after having been convicted by a jury in January of embezzling over $100,000 from the Finnish American Home Association (FAHA). The FAHA provides affordable housing assistance for the needy and elderly in Sonoma County. State law requires the prison sentence to be served in the Sonoma County Jail.

Broin was hired as FAHA Executive Director in November of 2010 and almost immediately began embezzling funds by writing checks from a business account to pay his personal rent. He also used FAHA funds to pay for an attorney who represented him in a civil suit, and for the purchase of a camper. In addition, he made large cash withdraws from FAHA’s business accounts and then used that money to create money orders made payable to himself or his personal bank accounts.

District Attorney Ravitch stated, “As Executive Director of a non-profit organization, Mr. Broin was in a position of trust which he abused from the beginning for his personal gain. This type of theft impacts not only the victim organization but the community as a whole.”

This matter was investigated by Detective Piersol with the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department and was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Amy Ariyoshi.