Alameda police arrested a Benicia man Wednesday on suspicion of embezzling at least $380,000 from a trucking and warehouse company that stores shipping containers so that customs officials can inspect them after they arrive at the Port of Oakland.

Jorge Jensen Baraibar, 46, faces 182 counts of grand theft in connection with the embezzlement, which is believed to have taken place over about 18 months while Baraibar worked at Bobac C.F.S. Corp. in Alameda, police said.

His bail was set at $1.83 million.

Baraibar quit working for Bobac, which can store more than 100 containers at its Alameda warehouse, after he was confronted in July about a discrepancy in its financial records, police said.

The company contacted investigators last month.

Police said they are still piecing together just how much money Baraibar allegedly embezzled from the company, which also provides a site for USDA and FDA examinations, as well as other services.

Alameda police detective Greg Ella said Baraibar set up two bank accounts and then deposited checks from the storage company's clients into them. The accounts were at Wells Fargo and Mission National banks.

Some 184 checks from just one of the company's clients — Masterpiece International Shipping, which has offices throughout the country — passed through the accounts, Ella said.

The detective also said a review of Baraibar's account at Mission National Bank showed an

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additional 744 checks from 158 other clients were deposited between January 2007 and about August of last year.

"We don't have a total of the loss yet," Ella said. "But I expect that it could easily go over $500,000."

A representative from Bobac could not be reached for comment.

Alameda police placed the Benicia residence that Baraibar shares with his brother briefly under surveillance Wednesday and arrested him about 6:30 a.m. as the two men were leaving the property.

Baraibar declined to talk with investigators about the charges. The native of Peru surrendered his passport, which police said they wanted because he was a possible flight risk.

Bobac officials initially thought Baraibar stole about $1,200 from the company, police said.

When they confronted him in July, Baraibar admitted wrongdoing, saying he was having money problems, and quit, police said. But company officials then reviewed their financial records and noticed other discrepancies.

How long Baraibar worked for the company, which has a 241,000 square-foot warehouse in Alameda, and his actual job responsibilities were not immediately available.