Ex-Office Manager Gets 4 Years for Skimming $502K from Law Firm Accounts
A former office manager for a Santa Ana, Calif., law firm was sentenced today to four years in prison for skimming $502,000 from the accounts of Tustin Rinos and Martin over a six-year period.
Authorities say Donna Joy Henderson, 68, spent the money on luxuries including gambling, jewelry purchased from the Home Shopping Network and pet spa treatments, reports the L.A. Now blog of the Los Angeles Times. She pleaded guilty to a felony count of grand theft by embezzlement.
She had worked for the firm since 2000. Henderson allegedly wrote 122 checks to payable to herself, to relatives, for cash and as payments to credit cards or fictitious businesses.
The article doesn’t say how the embezzlement was discovered.
As earlier ABAJournal.com posts have detailed, such thefts by trusted law office employees are not uncommon.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com (April 2011): “Former Office Manager Pleads Guilty to $75K Theft from Debt Collection Law Firm”
ABAJournal.com (April 2011): “Former Law Firm Manager Gets 8 Years for Stealing $884K; $47K Spent on Lunch Club Meals with Mom”
