CAMARILLO : Woman Arrested in Embezzlement Case

A Camarillo bookkeeper has been arrested at her home on suspicion of embezzling at least $92,000 from a former employer last year, sheriff’s fraud investigators said Wednesday.

A search warrant was served on Judith Anthis, 48, Tuesday after an audit of R. H. Byron Electric office in Valley Center revealed significant discrepancies in the company’s books for contracts with the Point Mugu naval facility, said Sheriff’s Sgt. Pat Buckley.

Buckley said he expects the eventual loss to be “substantially more” than $92,000 once the investigation is completed. “They are still discovering more losses,” he said, adding that another fraudulent check for $13,000 was discovered Wednesday.

Anthis worked for the San Diego County contractor from January, 1989, until March, 1990, Buckley said, but the audit’s findings did not surface until several weeks ago.

“She was in charge of disbursing all funds and for transferring funds between accounts, and manipulated the accounts to her advantage,” Buckley said in explaining how Anthis may have diverted the funds.

Only after an audit uncovered the discrepancies did a search of bank records uncover the paper trail that led to Anthis, he said.

“If you don’t have access to the bank records, you just would have thought the jobs had cost more,” Buckley said. “But bank statements don’t lie.”

The investigator said it was too early to tell whether more arrests would follow in the case and indicated that Anthis had previously been charged with a similar offense in another state.

Anthis posted bail Tuesday and is scheduled to be arraigned Oct. 8.