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VISTA, Calif. (AP) — A former bookkeeper embezzled $9.9 million, forcing her company to make layoffs as she bought 400 pairs of shoes that she kept in a room-sized closet decorated with a crystal chandelier and a plasma television, authorities claim.

Annette Yeomans, 51, surrendered at the Vista jail on Friday and was booked for investigation of grand theft and embezzlement. She was being held Saturday at the San Diego County jail in lieu of $10 million bail.

It was not immediately clear whether she had an attorney.

Authorities allege that Yeomans embezzled the money from 2001 to 2007 while she was chief financial officer for Quality Woodworks, Inc., a cabinetry business in San Marcos.

She spent at least $240,000 on 400 pairs of shoes, $300,000 on designer clothing and 160 purses valued at $2,000 each, investigators allege. She also remodeled a bedroom into a closet with the chandelier and a 32-inch TV, they said.

“On a weekly basis Yeomans would spend $25,000 on her credit card and then pay off the balance the following Monday with company funds,” said Sgt. Mark Varnau of the sheriff’s Financial Crimes Unit.

The losses went unnoticed and the company never hired an outside auditor to check the books because she had a trusted position, Varnau said. Meanwhile, he said, the company was forced to lay off workers and restructure operations because of the losses.

An investigation began after American Express notified the company in February 2008 that one of its checks had been used to make a payment on Yeomans’ account, Varnau said.

Yeomans was fired last year and agreed to turn over her assets to the company, which has recovered about $2 million from the sale of her home, some cars and other property, Varnau said.

Her husband was a cabinet installer at Quality Woodworks but was not suspected of any crime, Varnau said.

“Blowing the whistle on big-time tax cheats could make some informants wealthy — as long as they have hard evidence and plenty of patience.

Just over a year ago, President Bush signed legislation authorizing the Internal Revenue Service to pay sharply higher rewards to tipsters in cases involving large amounts of money. In some cases, the reward could be as high as 30% of whatever the IRS collects.”

DOJ press release

News article

“A former security executive for ABN AMRO and LaSalle Bank has been charged with pocketing $400,000 in return for steering $45 million in security work to a suburban firm, federal authorities said today.George Konjuch, formerly first vice president in charge of security for the banks, approved tens of millions of dollars in inflated invoices to allow Armando Navarette to kick back money to him from 2001 to 2006, the charges allege. Navarette owned Integrity Security Solutions of Wood Dale.

Konjuch, 54, of Des Plaines was charged with five counts of bank fraud, five counts of bank bribery and two counts of federal income tax fraud.Navarrete, 45, of Bloomingdale was charged with five counts of bank fraud, five counts of bank bribery and five counts of structuring monetary transactions. Integrated Security Solutions also was named as a defendant and faces five counts of bank fraud and five counts of bank bribery, officials said.