Trainers Possible Victims : Horse racing: Former bookkeeper for Shoemaker, Lewis being investigated for alleged embezzling.

The former bookkeeper for horse trainers Bill Shoemaker and Craig Lewis is being investigated by Arcadia police for allegedly embezzling more than $215,000, The Times has learned.

Lewis, most recently known for his horse Larry The Legend, told police his bookkeeper of 10 years, Susan Bradley of Arcadia, has stolen at least $200,000 from him over the past four years. Bradley allegedly bilked the funds by cashing bogus checks and funneling the money through separate payroll accounts at a local bank.

“I got ripped off,” Lewis said from his barn at Del Mar. “It’s such a long and involved story, it’s painful to discuss.”

Police are close to issuing a warrant for Bradley’s arrest, according to Det. Bob Anderson of the Arcadia Police Dept. “If I saw her on the street today, I would arrest her,” Anderson said Monday. “But I am waiting to complete the investigation.”

Lewis says he has been unable to locate Bradley since he told police of his charges in early July.

Shoemaker, who hired Bradley about three years ago on a referral, says she allegedly took $15,000 from him, with the majority of that from a $9,925 check she cashed during her final days of employment for Lewis, Anderson confirmed. Lewis fired Bradley in late June, and gave her a week’s notice.

“I don’t think she did much to me, but we are not through looking into it yet,” Shoemaker said. “She added workers to the payroll who weren’t with me anymore, made up names for workers and endorsed and cashed the checks. But about two or three months ago she sent me a bill for about $9,000 for helping on the case [Shoemaker’s malpractice lawsuit]. I called [my lawyer] and he said she wasn’t working on the case.”

Lewis said he became suspicious of Bradley about six months ago, but thought that she was mismanaging his money, not stealing it, said Susan Webb, Lewis’ new bookkeeper.

“Craig couldn’t figure out where his money was going, especially considering the year he had,” Webb said. “Bradley would tell him that it costs a lot of money to run his business.”

It was after Lewis’ payroll checks bounced in late June--he employs about 17 workers at Craig Lewis Racing Stables--that he decided to fire Bradley, and asked her to turn over the records. Bradley waited a week before relinquishing the records, Webb said.

“On the day she turned over the records she cashed a $23,000 check from Craig’s account,” Webb said she told police. “She signed on all the accounts . . . and she was in the bank every day and knew every single person in there. As a result, when she needed to cash checks that were questionable they never even questioned it.

“Most [of the money missing was] from Craig’s payroll account. If the amount of money she needed to cover payroll was $4,416, she would write out a check for $6,416. Then, after payroll was met, she would write a check out to herself and take the extra $2,000. It was not difficult to find, once we had the records.”

Lewis’ most recent notoriety came this year with Larry The Legend, a 3-year-old colt who was headed for the Kentucky Derby before suffering an injury. The horse, who captured hearts of racing fans everywhere, was named after Lewis’ brother, Larry Lewis, an attorney from Irvine.

Larry, who also managed Long Beach to the Little League World Series title in 1992 and 1993, is now trying to help untangle the affairs of his brother.

Said Shoemaker: “To be sure this doesn’t happen again, the first thing I am going to do is to be sure the bookkeeper is bonded.”

This wouldn’t be the first time a horse trainer has been victimized by a bookkeeper. Four years ago, Sally Ann Stubblefield was sentenced to four years in prison for embezzling nearly $1.5 million from horse trainer Charlie Whittingham. Stubblefield was accused of forging more than 500 checks in the names of Whittingham’s former employees and depositing the checks in her bank account over five years.