Photo: Linkedin
A detention hearing is set for April 14 for a former manager at SeaWorld who has been charged with stealing $750,000 from the company through an elaborate embezzlement scheme.
Sebastian Jobin, 47, worked at SeaWorld since 1997 until his suspension Jan. 22, 2015, but he is also known as the producer of two gay comedic movies.
His Linkedin account still lists him as working for SeaWorld, but it also says he worked with Daisy 3 Pictures. He is identified as the producer of 29th & Gay, a comedy about a gay man turning 29 in 2005, and Ready OK, another gay comedy in 2008 on entertainment Web sites.
Jobin pleaded not guilty April 4 to wire fraud and remains in the Metropolitan Correctional Center without bail. A federal judge will decide April 14 whether to keep him there through trial. He was arrested March 12 in Dallas.
More charges could be added as he is accused of creating more than 100 fake invoices from a fictitious company he created whose only business was with SeaWorld San Diego. He could face tax charges for not reporting the income he is alleged to have embezzled.
The fraudulent invoices came from his computer at SeaWorld and it listed deliveries of merchandise such as “sea creature rings,” and “purple shiny ornaments.” No merchandise was ever delivered and no packing slips were ever found.
SeaWorld investigators found his cell phone linked to the sham company and the names of himself and his former roommate listed as co-owners with the California Secretary of State. The company’s address was listed as Jobin’s residence in Mission Hills.
Bank records for the firm show it paid nothing for any materials for merchandise it sold, and most of the expenses were for restaurants, clothing stores such as Casual Male and plane tickets. Jobin was the only SeaWorld employee who ever interacted with the company and he was listed as accepting their merchandise for SeaWorld.
SeaWorld discovered the invoices on his computer. He was assigned to the entertainment department in 2004, and promoted to a manger in 2006. He was responsible for planning and budgeting special events.
“We are dedicated to protecting our local business and institutions from corruption inside and out,” said U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy in a press release. “We will root out and prosecute business insiders who abuse the trust of their employers and the community.”
He is charged under his full legal name of Wilfred David Joseph Jobin-Reyes, but he is known as Sebastian Jobin on entertainment Web sites and his Linkedin account.
