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The Fresno Arts Council office, located on Van Ness Avenue in downtown Fresno, photographed Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. Fresno police were notified $1.5 million of taxpayer funds went missing from the Fresno Arts Council in a case of alleged embezzlement.<\/p>\n
ERIC PAUL ZAMORA<\/p>\n
ezamora@fresnobee.com<\/p>\n
In its first public statement since last week<\/a>, the Fresno Arts Council on Friday said it is treating allegations one of its employees embezzled $1.5 million in taxpayer dollars \u201cwith the utmost seriousness and urgency.\u201d<\/p>\n The statement from the organization, which handled public grants set aside by the local parks and arts tax for the past few years, said the arts council began securing records and initiating \u201cappropriate next steps\u201d immediately after being informed of the allegations.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are fully cooperating with the City of Fresno and law enforcement,\u201d the statement said. \u201cBecause this is an active investigation, we are unable to provide further comment at this time.\u201d<\/p>\n The arts council added it will \u201cprovide additional information as appropriate.\u201d<\/p>\n The 91-word, one-paragraph statement follows a week of silence from the arts council after it first acknowledged last Friday that police were made aware of the alleged embezzlement of public dollars by one of its employees. City officials have confirmed the $1.5 million allegedly stolen came from $5.7 million in money from Measure P, Fresno\u2019s 3\/8-cent sales tax for parks and arts projects approved by voters in 2018.<\/p>\n The arts council in 2023 was hired by the city to administer the distribution of Measure P arts grants. But the city on Tuesday<\/a> announced it was taking back control of the money\u2019s distribution, blaming the organization\u2019s \u201clack of safeguards\u201d for the alleged embezzlement at the arts council.<\/p>\n The arts council last week called itself a \u201cvictim of unauthorized financial transactions.\u201d<\/p>\n Public officials have not yet named the employee, who has not been charged<\/a> but no longer works at the arts council.<\/p>\n This story was originally published February 13, 2026 at 12:50 PM.<\/p>\n Related Stories from Fresno Bee<\/p>\n
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