Former SLO County bookkeeper who embezzled from 2 businesses must repay $1.3 million
A former bookkeeper must repay more than $1.3 million in restitution after being convicted of embezzling from two local businesses, the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release Monday.
In September 2021, Ginger Lee Mankins, 57, pleaded guilty to six counts of embezzling money from Rich Machado Livestock and B&D Farms for about 10 years.
San Luis Obispo Superior Court Judge Jacquelyn Duffy sentenced Mankins, 57, to 10 years in state prison in October 2021, calling the crime “a tremendous loss and violation of trust.”
Testimony at the restitution hearing showed Mankins embezzled $3,440,205 between May 2007 and January 2018 from Machado Livestock and caused the Arroyo Grande livestock auction business to lose $811,317, according to Monday’s release.
Mankins and her husband have paid $2,947,000 back to Machado Livestock.
San Luis Obispo Superior Court Judge Denise DeBelleFeuille ordered Mankins to pay the remaining $1,304,524 in restitution, condemning her “spectacular betrayal of trust.”
“Embezzlement committed by employees in positions of trust are especially devastating, particularly when it involves staggering amounts of stolen funds over such an extended period of time,” county District Attorney Dan Dow said in the release.
Jill Machado, with Machado Livestock, previously told the court that the damage was not “just financial” but also “calculated, deliberate, drawn out over a long period of time and extremely impactful on our lives.”
The District Attorney’s Office’s Buereau of Investigations and Arroyo Grande Police Department investigated the case and Deputy District Attorney Michael Frye prosecuted it.
Restitution for B&D Farms is expected to be heard in October.
