Socialite Pleads Guilty to Role in Husband’s Fraud Scheme

Orange County socialite Susie Hernandez, accused of scheming with her husband to steal nearly $8 million from his employer, pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to income tax evasion.

Hernandez, 41, and her husband, Daniel, 40, arrested in February after a yearlong investigation, were accused of skimming millions from PGP Industries, a precious-metals firm in Santa Fe Springs.

Investigators alleged that Daniel Hernandez fabricated money transfers of precious metals among customers of PGP and deposited some payments for the bogus transactions into bank accounts controlled by him and his wife.

He pleaded guilty in April.

Orange County’s social set was stunned by the arrests of the Hernandezes, who had donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to charities. The couple, who live in a $900,000 Mission Viejo home, also owned five Mercedes-Benzes, three Rolls-Royces, three Ferraris, a Jaguar, an Aston Martin, a Porsche and a Jeep.

In an interview with The Times, Daniel Hernandez admitted that he took the money but said he considered it a commission for the job he was doing at PGP. He alleged that top officers at the company were aware of his skimming and that others also were stealing.

The inquiry has shifted to the company, which has denied Hernandez’s allegations.