Bill Gallaher’s son charged with felony theft for allegedly stealing from Poppy Bank

Sonoma County prosecutors have filed grand theft charges against Marco Gallaher and his then-girlfriend for allegedly stealing from Santa Rosa-based Poppy Bank after months of investigation and deliberation about whether to bring the case.

Gallaher is the son of Poppy Bank founder and board chairman Bill Gallaher, a high-profile and politically active Sonoma County developer who last year spent $1.8 million on a failed effort to recall Sonoma County District Attorney Jill Ravitch.

During a brief procedure Monday in Sonoma County Superior Court, Judge Troye Shaffer postponed the arraignment of Gallaher and his co-defendant, Rachele Eschenburg, until Jan. 25. Charges against the two were filed Jan. 6.

According to an unsealed search warrant in the case, Poppy Bank reported to police last spring that they suspected Marco Gallaher had been fraudulently using a shareholder account called “Big Poppy Holdings Inc.” for credit card payments, online purchases and withdrawals totaling $102,000. The bank reported recovering $52,400.

Santa Rosa criminal defense attorney Erick Guzman represented Gallaher and Eschenburg in court Monday. The theft allegations are unfounded, he said in an email.

“After roughly six months of investigation and a thorough ransacking of their house, the D.A.’s office has only managed to charge one relatively low-level offense reveals that there is no real evidence against my clients,” Guzman wrote. “My clients strongly maintain their innocence, and look forward to their exoneration.”

Marco Gallaher previously told The Press Democrat the allegations of theft stemmed from a misunderstanding that was being used against him by his estranged family. He sold his shares in the bank last April, he said.

“I’ve been trying to distance myself from my family for a while,” he said last September.

In a filing made later that fall in a separate case, a divorce, Marco Gallaher disclosed he had earned $3.2 million by selling his Poppy Bank shares.

The Santa Rosa Police Department quietly served a search warrant and arrested Marco Gallaher and Eschenburg on July 22. At the time of that arrest, Bill Gallaher was in the middle of his attempt to unseat Ravitch, which ended in September after nearly 80% of voters chose to keep the veteran prosecutor in office for the remainder of her final term, which ends this year.

The elder Gallaher launched the recall after Ravitch prosecuted two of his companies for abandoning elderly residents in a pair of Fountaingrove care homes during the 2017 Tubbs fire.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Brian Staebell previously told The Press Democrat that DA officials had consulted with the California Attorney General’s office to determine if there was a conflict of interest in bringing the case. As a result of that inquiry, Ravitch remains isolated from decision making on the case, according to officials in the District Attorney’s Office.

Friday’s criminal complaint was brief and did not add any details to public knowledge about the case. The complaint charged Marco Gallaher and Eschenburg with one count of felony theft for stealing “money and personal property” of a value exceeding $950.

That amount is the threshold between misdemeanor and felony theft charges. Prosecutors did not respond Monday to a question about how much money they would accuse Marco Gallaher and Eschenburg of stealing.

Amid the heat of the controversial recall campaign last year, the July arrest of Marco Gallaher generated enough concern that Santa Rosa Police Chief Ray Navarro alerted the City Council about it. Navarro said his office was preparing to notify the media, though authorities ultimately chose not to do so.

The arrest will “probably generate media attention,” Navarro wrote in a July 22 email outlining the arrest to council members. City officials provided a redacted copy of the email in response to a Press Democrat public records request.

“One of the suspects is Marco Gallaher, the ... (redacted) ... a well known, local developer who has been in the media recently due to District Attorney recall effort,” Navarro wrote.

Cindy Gallaher, Marco’s mother, in July declined to comment on her son’s arrest, saying the matter was between him and the bank. Cindy Gallaher did not respond to a voicemail seeking comment Monday evening.

Poppy Bank President and CEO Khalid Acheckzai has cast the decision to go to law enforcement as a straightforward one based on an investigation into possible theft from the bank.

You can reach Staff Writer Andrew Graham at 707-526-8667 or andrew.graham@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @AndrewGraham88.