A 14-year employee of a Newport Beach architectural firm was arrested this week for allegedly embezzling more than $150,000 to finance personal expenses including a license for her new business.
According to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, Suzanne Denise Baumann, 40, Anaheim Hills, is charged with two felony counts of grand theft and one felony count of second degree commercial burglary with sentencing enhancements for aggravated white-collar crime over $100,000 and property damage over $65,000. If convicted, she faces a maximum sentence of six years and four months in state prison.
According to the DA’s office, beginning in 1996, Baumann worked for Scheurer Architect in Newport Beach. She is accused of being responsible for overseeing the company’s financial accounts and records and stealing more than $115,700 by charging unauthorized purchases on three company credit cards.
Baumann is also accused of stealing more than $44,000 from the company’s bank account to pay charges on her personal credit card for personal expenses including travel expenses, concert tickets, and items online from Amazon.com.
In early May, a Scheurer Architect employee noticed a missing check that Baumann made payable to herself, according to the DA’s office. After an audit of the corporate accounts, the theft was reported to the Newport Beach Police Department.
On May 16, the DA’s office said, Baumann went to the NBPD and used a stolen company credit card to pay for a massage therapy license to start her new business.
After further investigation by NBPD, Baumann was arrested on Tuesday.
