State prosecutors say James Harrison used the Viola and Oscar Allen Trust as his “own personal piggy bank” for 14 years.

Ukiah banker pleaded not guilty in Mendocino County Superior Court Wednesday morning to embezzling $421,000 from a dead couple’s trust account instead of turning the money over for student scholarships.State prosecutors say James Harrison used the Viola and Oscar Allen Trust as his “own personal piggy bank” for 14 years.He is charged with misappropriation of trust assets and three counts of wilfully filing false tax returns.Harrison is a former vice president of locally owned Savings Bank of Mendocino County. He resigned in 2005 after his employer notified federal banking regulators he may have engaged in “self-dealing” as trustee of the Allen trust.
The Allens were a successful business couple who had no living heirs. They set up their trust in 1993 and appointed Harrison as trustee.They directed that, upon their deaths, the remaining trust be turned over to Ukiah High School for scholarships.
A trial tentatively was set to begin April 6.