Former Burlingame BevMo Employee Accused of Embezzling $10k From Store

By Bay City News Service:

A former BevMo employee has pleaded no contest to a charge of embezzling more than $10,000 from the Burlingame store where she had worked, San Mateo County prosecutors said Wednesday.

Mary Carmen Vasquez, 25, entered the plea Monday in the courtroom of Superior Court Judge Jonathan Karesh to one count of felony embezzlement for stealing $10,597.91 from the store between October 2013 and Jan. 6.

While head clerk of the store at 1462 Burlingame Ave., Vasquez had made cash refunds to herself that she logged as money paid back to customers for returned items such as keg taps and tub deposits, prosecutors said.

Vasquez made the refunds 95 times over the three-month period. The transactions were later noticed by the store manager, who launched an investigation into the matter, according to prosecutors.

Video footage from the store’s surveillance system captured Vasquez making the fraudulent returns, prosecutors said.

When she was confronted about the fraud, she only admitted to making a couple of thefts for $1,000, according to prosecutors.

Vasquez is out of custody on $10,000 bail and her sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 8.

(Image via Shutterstock)