PR Firm Head Tells Police of Embezzlement : Crime: Costa Mesa officials confirm investigation at Gloria Zigner & Associates, which has reduced its staff size in past three months and closed an office.

COSTA MESA — Gloria Zigner, owner of the 23-year-old public relations firm that bears her name, said Wednesday that she has asked Costa Mesa police to investigate an embezzlement at her company.

Police Detective Steve Labbitt confirmed that he is investigating but said no complaint has been filed yet. The amount of the alleged embezzlement has not been disclosed.

The company, Gloria Zigner & Associates, has reduced the size of its staff in the past three months and has closed its one-person San Francisco branch, which was less than a year old.

Office manager Betts Hickson left the firm in mid-April. Earlier this month, Zigner laid off husband and wife David and Mimi Dickstein, who were director of media relations and production assistant, respectively. And the company eliminated a senior account manager position this month when Jena Jensen left for another job.

The five departures, including that of Jennifer Sims, a company vice president who ran the San Francisco office, leave the company with six employees, said Irv Goldberg, Zigner’s husband.

Dickstein said he was told when he was laid off that the reason was a cash crunch after an embezzlement by another employee. He said he will start work in August as a senior account manager for a West Los Angeles company, Pondel, Parsons & Wilkinson, which specializes in corporate and investor relations.

Zigner’s clients include Orange-based Children’s Hospital of Orange County; Red Robin International, a restaurant chain based in Irvine, and Clothestime Inc., a women’s clothing retailer based in Anaheim.