Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Office detectives have arrested a Custody Sergeant following a criminal investigation that revealed significant timecard fraud.
On Thursday, January 29, 2026, detectives arrested 34-year-old Segun Ogunleye at his residence in Ventura on a felony warrant. Ogunleye faces criminal charges including embezzlement of public funds, forgery, and grand theft, along with a white-collar crime enhancement.
The investigation began in October 2025, after Sheriff’s Office staff identified irregularities in Ogunleye’s timecards spanning several months. As the investigation progressed, detectives determined that Ogunleye fraudulently coded more than $175,000 in earnings dating back to 2023 for shifts he did not work.
At the time of the alleged misconduct, Ogunleye was a Custody Sergeant and served in a supervisory role. His responsibilities included reviewing and approving overtime usage, making the alleged violations particularly disturbing.
“This arrest is deeply troubling and disappointing,” said Bill Brown, Sheriff of Santa Barbara County. “The theft of public funds is a serious violation of the trust our community places in its peace officers. As a supervisor, this individual was entrusted with ensuring accountability and overseeing the responsible use of taxpayer dollars. Conduct like this not only violates the law, it undermines the integrity of our organization and will not be tolerated.”
Investigators did not identify any additional suspects connected to this case, nor any evidence of similar fraudulent activity by any other employees. The investigation remains ongoing and there is a parallel administrative investigation underway.
Ogunleye was booked at the Ventura County Jail and is being held on $150,000 bail.
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A crooked cop committing fraud? I thought only day care centers “commit fraud?” I guess Trump will no have to cut all funds to all law enforcement, right MAGAts? I mean, that’s how you people operate so, I guess you’ll all be “defunding the police!”
WHY WAS THIS CONTENT NOT PART OF THIS REPORT”
“These allegations come at a time when the Board of Supervisors has called Sheriff’s Office overtime costs “alarming” and “concerning.”
“The Sheriff’s Office regularly goes millions of dollars over budget with overtime costs, and the Board of Supervisors typically approves general fund money to fill the gap. In September, the board asked for an analysis of overtime practices, after the office went $4.2 million over budget the previous year.
“The Auditor-Controller’s Office submitted a memo in December that dug into the ongoing issue. It analyzed 19,355 timesheets submitted by 824 employees for the 2024-25 fiscal year.
“The observations include: Some staff earn more in overtime pay than regular pay; there are no limits on employee work time; and mandatory overtime shifts are generally longer than regular work shifts.”
FOR BROWN TO POINT FINGERS AT ONE SUSPECT IS RICH WHEN HE HAS ALWAYS KEPT THE STAFFING SHORT FOR THE EXPRESS PURPOSE OF REWARDING HIS PEOPLE WITH HUGE “PERMANENT OVERTIME” WHICH SHOULD BE AN OXYMORONIC CONCEPT.
RHS, I have never tried running the numbers, but what I was told my entire public service career was that it’s actually cheaper to keep staffing at a certain level and pay OT, than it is to hire and pay for the salary and benefit package for adding employees. That may open a whole other discussion. Just telling you what I have been told as a mid-level manager.
Yes I know that line. It is cover for the Board of Supervisors/City Council and permission for the bosses to grant excess to their friends. First, having a full complement of employees rather than purposefully short staffing allows flexibility, especially for emergency moments. Second, paying regular rates rather than double or triple is obviously cheaper. Third it is better for the community at large to have a larger number of safety employees who will more represent that community but in fact a small subset of long time entrenched employees have scarfed up the power to protect them and theirs (it is very common to see sons and other relatives of these employees brought in to protect future depredation). Basically the unions have entered into deals to support the elected heads as long as those heads promise to protect their special status and BIG salaries.
Gotta run the numbers to get to the bottom of if it’s correct or not. Paying regular rates IS obviously cheaper than paying 1.5x for OT (1.5X is the standard OT rate in the public sector, not double or triple). My point is that the benefit package is so expensive per new employee that paying 1.5x to an existing employee may actually cost less than hiring new employees, the cost of training them up to standard, and then the cost of the benefit package, which is substantial. Until the numbers are run, it’s all conjecture.
1.5 rate may be typical. I thought it was sometimes higher for special duties/times. But here is a discussion of what the auditor’s office has disclosed: https://www.independent.com/2026/01/20/overtime-audit-roils-santa-barbara-county-sheriffs-office/ The problem permeates all of the SBSO (and most law enforcement and fire departments statewide) and is not limited just to hourly employees.
Yeah, I’ve heard they are very short staffed, and there’s a lot of mandatory overtime. And maybe the work environment isn’t great either.
he more you can jack up OT prior your retirement, the larger your pension. This happens with the fire dept- a Montecito fire captain told me as that was his strategy
Jesus, the whole City and County retirement/pension deal needs to be reformed. This is just another example of government fraud. No wonder we have so many budget deficits. Problem is no one in government wants to take this on. They need the endorsement of the unions. It’s all bad.
Sure they do rube.
That’s rich, coming from BI Guy, sitting in an office waiting for phone calls while spewing garbage on the web.