Politics & Government
Embezzlement Suspects Arraigned
Women transferred money into their own accounts, used credit cards for personal purchases, D.A. says.
Two former finance department employees accused of embezzling $435,000 from the mosquito abatement district have been arraigned on eight felony counts each in superior court.
Jo Ann Dearman, the former finance director also known as Joann Seeney, and Vika Sinipata, her bookkeeper assistant, together siphoned money from the San Mateo County Mosquito and Vector Abatement District, said district attorney Steve Wagstaffe.
Dearman is in prison, serving a two-year, eight-month sentence for a previous embezzlement conviction, and Sinipata turned herself in to authorities after authorities issued a $150,000 warrant for her arrest.
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Sinipata did not enter a plea. She remains in custody.
“Continuously over a two-year period, the women embezzled by giving themselves extra pay, higher pay rate, fraudulent time off, excessive contributions to deferred compensation funds, use of credit cards for personal purchases and electronic transfers into their own accounts,” according to prosecution notes.
