The finance manager of a Menlo Park tech consulting firm was arrested Wednesday on charges of embezzlement and identity fraud for taking $500,000 and spending it in casinos, police said.
Amerlinda Mendoza, 59, of Mountain View, allegedly took so much money from the firm Strategic Business Insights (SBI) that it went bankrupt and is now dissolved. Police said 20 people lost their jobs.
Mendoza was an employee of SBI for more than nine years. In January 2023, she was entrusted with managing the company’s bank accounts and overseeing financial responsibilities after the previous office manager retired. Mendoza was responsible for making payments to vendors, transferring funds between accounts, and handling payroll.
A year later, in January 2024, discrepancies in SBI’s finances were discovered, prompting the CEO to file a police report with the Menlo Park Police Department. Mendoza resigned two days after the discovery that significant funds were missing from the company’s accounts, police said.
Menlo Park Police Department Detective’s investigation revealed that Mendoza had withdrawn and transferred funds from SBI’s bank accounts to gamble at local casinos, pay for personal expenses, and transfer money via Venmo and PayPal.
These actions resulted in a loss of approximately $500,000 over the course of one year, leading to SBI’s bankruptcy and the permanent job loss of more than 20 employees as well as unpaid vendors, police said.
Police said that after nearly eight months of investigation, it was determined that Mendoza had employed various methods to embezzle funds from multiple accounts.
Police served a search warrant at her residence along with a warrant for her arrest, with bail set at $750,000. Mendoza was arrested without incident and booked into San Mateo County Jail for embezzlement and identity Fraud. The case has been forwarded to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office for prosecution.
Multiple pairs of eyes need to watch anyone who handles company money, regardless of the person’s rank.
Likewise, anyone remember the case of San Mateo HOA embezzler Susan Lambert and her contractor accomplice, Michael “Fake Invoices” Medeiros? For years, no one watched what they did.