Embezzlement scandal at TCCS

Sariya Chunawala, Reporter • April 3, 2026

A former employee of The Claremont Colleges Services (TCCS) is currently facing up to twenty years of prison for one count of wire fraud. Steven Anthony Cowles, 45, worked at TCCS for ten years as an electric shop supervisor. During that time, he embezzled $1,000,571 from the colleges.

With access to a purchasing card, or “P-card”, Cowles transferred money from TCCS funds to his personal accounts on platforms such as PayPal. He then submitted false invoices to seemingly cover the expenses. In reality, the money was not used to buy electrical products—rather, it went into his own pocket.

Title 15 Section 1343 of the United States Code penalizes fraud by wire, radio, or television by a maximum sentence of twenty years and significant fines. Cowles, who pleaded guilty to the charge, is awaiting his hearing on April 22, 2026.

TCCS provided a press release regarding the topic. Assistant Vice President for Communications & Community Relations, Laura Muna-Landa, detailed the steps taken by the Claremont Colleges.

“We have taken comprehensive steps to address this matter and protect the institutions going forward,” Muna-Landa wrote. “Our insurance coverage has absorbed the financial loss associated with this misconduct, and there is no need to restate our financial statements. The integrity of our audited financial reporting remains intact. TCCS has implemented a series of enhanced financial controls in response to the incident. These include revised purchasing policies, strengthened oversight and reporting procedures, mandatory training, and new system safeguards.”

Cowles’s attorney denied The Wolfpacket’s request for a comment.

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About the Contributor

Sariya Chunawala, Reporter

Sariya Chunawala is a freshman at Claremont High School and a first-year Reporter for the Wolfpacket. She joined the Wolfpacket because of her love of all kinds of writing and desire to contribute to the field of journalism. She’s planning on writing valuable articles and pitching ideas that will make the Wolfpacket a newspaper that everyone will want to read! When she’s not in school or writing for the Wolfpacket, you can almost always find her with her nose behind a book, at Speech and Debate tournaments, sailing at the Marina del Ray, listening to a variety of music, crashing out about her Wolfpacket computer, or being an unpaid babysitter. She would like to give a special shoutout to Marjorie Barndt, her unofficial Speech and Debate Coach and fellow Reporter!