Bookkeeper sentenced for embezzling over $550,000 from former employer

VENTURA, Calif. (KEYT) – Ida Veronica Hernandez, 45, received a four-year, four-month state prison sentence for embezzling over $550,000 from her former employers at a Thousand Oaks medical practice, according to the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

Hernandez pled guilty to seven felony counts of grand theft, a felony count of filing a false or forged document and admitted the special allegation of losses exceeding $100,000, according to the VCDAO.

Hernandez had access to company bank accounts and financial records from her role as office manager and bookkeeper in 2020 and 2021, which she used to transfer to her own and her family's bank accounts, according to the VCDAO.

Hernandez used multiple aliases and falsely implicated a coworker in her attempt to deflect attention from herself after stealing at least $556,000 from the medical business, according to the VCDAO.

Hernandez also directed the payroll company to pay her family and friends before abruptly quitting once financial irregularities showed themselves, according to the VCDAO.

Hernandez fled once an investigation started and committed similar thefts in Orange County and Plano, Texas before authorities tracked her down travelling across the county, according to the VCDAO.

Hernandez had orders to pay restitution to the victim that totalled $560,000 after receiving her prison sentence, according to the VCDAO.