SAN DIEGO (CNS) - A San Diego woman who worked as a bookkeeper for two local companies and embezzled more than $900,000 from her employers was sentenced Monday to two years and five months in federal prison.
Susan Ann Sears, 64, pleaded guilty to wire fraud counts for taking over $765,000 from Shapery Enterprises and around $165,000 from Hope Campbell Realty Inc.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Sears was Shapery Enterprises' bookkeeper for about 16 months and during that time used the company's bank account to pay for an American Express account she had opened in a family member's name.
Prosecutors say she attempted to make the payments appear as business expenses by entering "S. Sharpery" as a memo for each payment. A prosecution sentencing memorandum states "S. Sharpery" is one letter removed from the company's CEO's actual last name, Shapery, and Sears "assumed that anyone scrutinizing the Shapery Enterprises bank account would merely glance over the "S. Sharpery" justification and not give it a second thought. For sixteen months, Defendant was correct.
Sears was later fired by Shapery Enterprises for undisclosed reasons and the U.S. Attorney's Office states she was notified by the government that she was under investigation for wire fraud.
She began working at Hope Campbell Realty Inc, where prosecutors allege she issued unauthorized checks to herself and her family members, and took steps to make the payments appear like legitimate business expenses.
A sentencing memorandum from Sears' defense attorney, Paul Barr, states that Sears decision was borne out of "a frantic attempt" to assist her son, who had financial troubles and was facing eviction from his home.
"She knows that what she did was wrong and accepts complete responsibility for it," the attorney wrote. "But the fact remains that Mrs. Sears never would have found herself in this situation, never would have committed this fraud, if not for that very first desperate act of trying to help her son."
In addition to prison, Sears was ordered to pay $839,419.22 in restitution to American Express and Hope Campbell Realty.
Copyright 2023, City News Service, Inc.
