Ventura County Bookkeeper Pleads Guilty to Embezzling Over $550,000

A local bookkeeper has pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $550,000, Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko announced on January 22.

Veronica Hernandez, 45, pleaded guilty to seven felony counts of grand theft and one felony count of filing a false or forged document while she was employed as a bookkeeper for a medical practice in Thousand Oaks, according to a statement released by the district attorney’s office. 

Hernandez also admitted a special allegation that the total losses in the case exceeded $100,000. 

Authorities said the thefts occurred over a prolonged period, allowing the losses to accumulate before the financial discrepancies were detected.

Between 2020 and 2021, Hernandez worked as office manager and bookkeeper, with access to company bank accounts and financial records. According to the DA’s office, she transferred significant amounts of money to accounts controlled by herself and her relatives instead of using the access for legitimate business purposes.

Investigators determined that Hernandez used several aliases and created fictitious employee names to hide the thefts, directing payroll payments to accounts that she controlled. In total, she stole at least $556,000 from the business, the statement said. 

The investigation also uncovered that Hernandez committed identity theft against her coworkers and attempted to deflect attention by falsely implicating a coworker, Nasarenko said in the statement.

Once the financial irregularities began to surface, she abruptly quit her job. 

By the time the case was fully investigated and filed in Ventura County, Hernandez had fled the area.

The case expanded beyond Ventura County and California. 

She then later allegedly committed similar thefts in Orange County, prompting a warrant for her arrest. In addition, she is accused of more financial crimes in Plano, Texas. 

Hernandez eventually fled Texas and was tracked by investigators as she traveled across the country. 

Currently, she is in custody on $600,000 bail pending sentencing, which is scheduled for February 20, 2026, at the Ventura County Superior Court, authorities said. 

She has pleaded guilty to seven counts of PC 487(a), which deals with grand theft. Under this section, grand theft is committed when the value of money, labor, real property, or personal property taken is over $950. 

The case was investigated by the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office Major Fraud Unit, according to the statement. Senior Deputy District Attorney Howard Wise, a member of the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office Special Prosecutions Fraud and Technology Crimes Unit, prosecuted the case.