A former Central Coast bookkeeper serving time for embezzlement was ordered to pay more than $1 million in restitution Monday.
Ginger Lee Mankins, 57, of Arroyo Grande was sentenced to 10 years in state prison last September after pleading guilty to six counts of felony embezzlement.
San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow says Superior Court Judge Denise DeBelleFeuille decided on the $1,304,524 amount during Monday’s restitution hearing as that’s what was leftover from the original $3,440,205 stolen from Machado Livestock between May 2007 and January 2018.
Dow says evidence presented during Monday’s hearing shows Mankins and her husband have already repaid $2,947,000 to the business.
Restitution has yet to be decided for a second business impacted, B&D Farms, as Dow say the final accounting isn’t finished. A hearing to determine those losses is set for Oct. 5.
“Embezzlement committed by employees in positions of trust are especially devastating, particularly when it involves staggering amounts of stolen funds over such an extended period of time,” Dow said in a press release following Monday’s hearing. “This ten-year prison sentence and order to repay more than $1,300,000 of stolen funds affirms that those who steal from our business community will face aggressive prosecution in San Luis Obispo County.”
The money was taken while Mankins was working as a bookkeeper for Rick Machado Livestock from 2007 to 2017 and B&D Farms from 2008 to 2017.
