Southeast : Ex-College Administrator Pleads Not Guilty

The moonlighting business of a former Cerritos College administrator landed him in court Friday.

Downey resident Viet Be, former vice president of student services at the Norwalk college, pleaded not guilty in Los Angeles Municipal Court to charges that his Woodland Hills-based transcript evaluation business constituted a conflict of interest.

Be, 46, ran the business while working at the college from January 1992 through November 1994, when the college’s Board of Trustees voted to dismiss Be after looking into conflict of interest accusations. At that time, college President Fred Gaskin said Be had told foreign students hoping to enroll at the college that they had to pay his business as much as $120 to evaluate their transcripts.

Be also denied embezzling $7,000 from the college in the case of a foreign student whose tuition check ended up in Be’s business account. Be could not be reached for comment Friday.

A judge released Be on his own recognizance after setting a Feb. 16 court date. The charges carry a maximum sentence of four years and four months. There could be further penalties because the Fair Political Practices Commission is considering a separate civil action, said Richard Goul, deputy district attorney in the special investigations division.