The former head bookkeeper for a North County custom-woodworking company was charged today with multiple counts of embezzlement and grand theft for allegedly stealing at least $9.9 million from the firm over a seven-year period.
Annette Yeomans, 51, was ordered held in lieu of $10 million bail.
Vista Judge Marshall Hockett granted a defense request to postpone Yeomans' arraignment until March 17.
She faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted of 20 felony charges, said Deputy District Attorney Anna Winn.
The prosecutor told the judge that from 2001 to 2007, Yeomans wrote 582 checks totaling more than $8.7 million on the business accounts of Quality Woodworks Inc. of San Marcos.
Winn alleged the defendant would make out some of the checks to herself and cash them at ATMs and casinos.
The alleged thefts came to light about a year ago, when a credit card company notified Quality Woodworks about numerous suspicious payments to her account made with company checks, sheriff's Sgt. Mark Varnau said.
Varnau said an investigation revealed that on weekly basis, Yeomans would spend $25,000 on her credit card and then pay off the balance the following Monday with company funds.
The defendant allegedly used the embezzled money to finance purchases of luxury vehicles, shopping trips to Italy and home remodeling projects, including a conversion of one of her bedrooms into a closet to store her large, lavish wardrobe.
Her clothing collection included 400 pairs of shoes valued at $600 each, $300,000 worth of designer garments and 160 purses valued at $2,000 each, investigators allege.
The losses forced Quality Woodworks to forego employees raises, lay off some workers and restructure its operations, authorities said.
The complexity of the investigation of the case caused the yearlong delay in arresting Yeomans, according to Varnau.
