Former San Mateo Condo Manager Pleads Not Guilty Embezzling $2.8M

The former manager of a San Mateo condominium complex pleaded not guilty Wednesday to embezzling $2.8 million from the complex over about six years, prosecutors said.

The embezzlement was discovered in September 2013 when Susan Lambert, 64, was fired from her job as general manager of the Woodlake Homeowners Association, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s
Office.

A stack of 150 false invoices to Professional Painting Inc. was discovered next to her computer. Prosecutors said she had been sending checks for work not completed to Professional Painting’s owner, 58-year-old Michael Anthony Medeiros, and the two would later split the money.

Lambert pleaded not guilty Wednesday to forgery and embezzlement charges. Judge Mark Forcum set her bail at $1 million and she was remanded into custody, prosecutors said.

Medeiros remains free and there is a $1.6 million warrant out for his arrest, prosecutors said.

Lambert has retained defense attorney George Eshoo. An employee at Eshoo’s office said he would not comment on the case.

The affluent 990-unit condo complex on Peninsula Avenue surrounds a lake and has five swimming pools, an 18-hole putting green, four tennis courts, two saunas, a gym and a billiard room.

--Bay City News Service, photo via Shutterstock