Former Marine Accused Of Embezzling From Scholarship Fund

A former Marine who served as the president of a non-profit Maine scholarship program, has been arrested after allegations surfaced he may have embezzled a large sum of money from the organization.

Sgt. Dave Florez with the Palm Desert Police Department said the arrest wraps up a year-long investigation after money was reported missing by the scholarships’ founders.

In October of 2010, Jason Patrick Hitt, 35, of Pomona, was appointed as the non-paid role as president of the non-profit organization U.S. Marine Scholarships Desert Cities, Inc., which provides educational scholarships to current and former Marines

From the time the group’s founders noticed money missing until the time of Hitt’s arrest on Thursday, Florez said $200,000 had vanished.

Investigators were able to recover some of the missing property belonging to the organization, but not all of it.

Palm Desert police investigators are looking for more information regarding this incident. If you have details to share, call Florez at 760-836-1600.