$200,000 embezzlement alleged from Chico company
chicoer.com | 4/19/08 | Greg Welter
CHICO -- An Orland woman is accused of embezzling more than $200,000 from her former employer, a Chico-based heavy-equipment distributor. Detectives from the Butte County Sheriff's Office allege that Jennifer Marie Sites, 38, used funds stolen from Hamre Equipment Co. to pay her mortgage and purchase a large number of items from a home-shopping television network.
Investigators said they found many of the purchases still in their shipping containers, filling her living room and spilling out onto a porch.
Last Saturday, the owner of Hamre reported that the woman, a bookkeeper there for only 18 months, was suspected of embezzling an estimated $100,000 from the company. By Monday, company officials said the estimate grew to more than $200,000.
Detectives served search warrants Tuesday on Sites' residence on County Road KK and on her Bank of America accounts. Her assets were frozen at that time. Because of the number of items found in her home, detectives are still working to determine the total value of Sites' alleged purchases. She was arrested on 200 counts alleging embezzlement/grand theft and 10 counts of forgery. She remains in custody at the Butte County Jail in Oroville, with bail set at $620,000.Hamre was founded in 1989 and operates a large facility on Three Sevens Lane north of Chico. According to its Web site, the company specializes in the sale and distribution of large-capacity lift trucks, logging trucks, excavators and forklifts.