Danville Woman Pleads Guilty To $1.7M Embezzlement Scheme

DANVILLE, CA — A Danville woman has been sentenced to 22 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to embezzling over $1.7 million from her former employer, the Department of Justice announced.

Gina Suzanne Lonestar, 52, was the former senior director of Men's Wearhouse's facilities department and vice president of the retailer's construction and maintenance division. In May, Lonestar signed a plea agreement admitting that in December 2010, she devised a scheme to create a fake vendor to defraud Men’s Wearhouse, and later parent company Tailored Brands, by submitting and approving false invoices for work by a false vendor to the accounts payable department.

Lonestar admitted to creating a document stating that the vendor was a sole proprietorship associated with a family member, and then submitted invoices that falsely claimed that vendors were performing work at Men’s Wearhouse stores throughout California that was never completed. Lonestar admitted that the vendor did not exist and performed none of the work detailed on the invoices. She also admitted that this scheme lasted eight years, and defrauded her employer of over $1.7 million, which she deposited to a joint checking account with a family member listed as co-owner of the false company. The scheme ended in 2019 after it was discovered during an internal audit.

During that time, Lonestar was promoted to senior director of facilities and corporate services, and then to vice president of construction, maintenance and facilities, where she had the authority to approve invoices for work done by vendors.

On Sept. 8, 2022, a federal grand jury indicted Lonestar and charged her with six counts of wire fraud. Lonestar pleaded guilty to one count, and the rest of the counts were dismissed.

In addition to serving a 22-month sentence, Lonestar was ordered to pay back $1,736,216, and serve three years of supervised release after she leaves prison. She will begin serving her sentence on Jan. 5, 2024.