Borderline Bar & Grill owner convicted of grand theft embezzlement

A jury convicted the owner of the Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks for grand theft embezzlement Wednesday. 

The Ventura County District Attorney said the owner, Brian Andrew Hynes, misappropriated funds for a charity music festival canceled during the pandemic. 

"Facing difficult financial circumstances, Mr. Hynes decided to misappropriate venture money," said Senior Deputy District Attorney Marc Leventhal, who prosecuted the case. "Rather than mitigating his crime by taking responsibility, he put his former Rotary colleagues, business partner and employees through the ordeal of an emotionally draining trial."

According to prosecutors, Hynes partnered with the Westlake Rotary to organize the Oak Heart County Music Festival in 2020. After the annual charity music festival was canceled because of COVID-19, Hynes took the $43,750 refund for musical acts and placed it into a general business bank account which he controlled. 

Instead of returning the money to ticket holders and Westlake Rotary, the Borderline owner spent it on personal expenses and unrelated business ventures. 

Hynes' sentencing hearing is scheduled for Nov. 1 at 9 a.m. at the Ventura County Superior Court building. 

In 2018, a gunman shot and killed 12 people inside the tavern — one of the deadliest mass shootings in California history.