Lodian sentenced to three years for embezzling $1M

Lodi resident Deborah Veronica Adams, 60, was sentenced on Thursday to three years and four months in state prison for taking part in embezzling nearly $1 million from a local business.

At sentencing, the victim, Russell Horn of 3D Electrical Contractors Inc., addressed Judge Ron Northup about the devastating impact Adams’ crime had on him and the company, according to San Joaquin County Deputy District Attorney Stephen E. Taylor. Adams was the bookkeeper at the Lodi firm for many years.

The embezzlement began on Sept. 5, 2006 and continued through Feb. 11, 2015, according to the charges filed against Adams and her sister Denise Roman, who were both employed at the firm. They wrote checks to themselves and disguised it on the books as vendor payments, according to the criminal complaint filed at the Lodi branch court. The company owners discovered the theft after the company had an audit for unrelated reasons. When one of the owners questioned Adams about the checks written to a J&D Enterprises, she claimed it was an old account from before that partner joined the firm in September 2007, according to the initial police report.

Adams later admitted that the J&D account belonged to her and her husband and that she had given money to Roman. She and Roman had been employed under the previous company ownership and were brought on in 2007 — Adams as office manager and Roman as a receptionist. Roman had left the business in 2010 but Adams was fired in February 2015.

She was arrested in Placer County in November 2015. Roman was not arrested but was being represented by an attorney.

Adams pled guilty on Nov. 10, 2016 to felony grant theft, felony falsification of corporate books and an additional count of felony tax evasion of state income taxes for the 2011 to 2013 tax years. She also admitted to an enhancement for a loss in excess of a half million dollars.

Before sentencing, Adams made a partial restitution payment of more than $250,000. Judge Northup, who presided over the case, ordered Adams to pay 3D Electrical Contractors the remaining balance of its $916,756.72 in losses and pay the California Tax Board $16,276 in back taxes and interest plus $21,282 in investigation costs.

Roman also pled guilty in November to felony theft and felony conspiracy charges. Roman will have her sentencing hearing on March 20, 2017.

The San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office has thanked the Lodi Police Department, the California Franchise Tax Board’s Investigations Division and Steve Hoslett, CPA, for their work on this case and other embezzlement cases.

“We urge the businesses in the community to impose strong accounting controls to detect thefts before losses can occur,” the DA’s office said in a press release.