CHULA VISTA, Calif. -- The District Attorney's Office is reviewing a complaint that Chula Vista police Chief David Bejarano wrote fraudulent checks on a private security firm's account that he co-owns, it was reported Friday.

The complaint against the former San Diego police chief was filed by Art Moreno, a former guard at Donovan State Prison and co-owner with Bejarano of Chula Vista-based Presidential Security, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

Bejarano severed his association with the company in August -- when he took the top cop spot -- because city policy prohibits officers from owning or working for private security firms in Chula Vista, the Union-Tribune reported.

Moreno alleges that Bejarano stepped down as president and curtailed his duties, but later wrote and signed several thousand dollars' worth of checks on the company's account to himself and his son, according to the newspaper.

District Attorney spokesman Paul Levikow declined to discuss the case with the Union-Tribune.

Bejarano's lawyer, Joseph Casas, told the newspaper his client was the victim of a smear campaign.

Bejarano has filed suit in San Diego Superior Court to disband the company, alleging that Moreno and his wife "repeatedly breached their fiduciary duties and wrongfully acted in their own self-interest," the Union-Tribune reported.

Moreno said Bejarano continued to direct employees after becoming stepped down and it was only after he realized that he could no longer control the company's checking account that he wanted to dissolve everything, according to the newspaper.