Crime & Safety
Former Rancho Mirage City Employee To Be Charged With Embezzlement
Sandra Johnson is accused of co-embezzling nearly $80,000 from the city.
INDIO, CA — A former city of Rancho Mirage employee accused, along with her sister-in-law, of embezzling nearly $80,000 from the city was slated to be arraigned Tuesday on charges of embezzlement and conspiracy to commit a crime.
Sandra Johnson, 50, of Indio, and Brandi Perry, 40, of Desert Hot Springs, are accused of using Johnson's position as the city's senior manager in the Building and Safety Code Compliance Division to siphon the funds over the course of more than two years.
According to an arrest warrant declaration, Johnson was allowed to authorize expenses for code enforcement work. She and Perry allegedly opened an account for a company called "Brandi Perry DBA Perry Property Preservation," which charged the city for "abatement work" that investigators say never occurred. Invoices for deposits into the Perry Property Preservation account were "falsified," with the city charged for "services not performed," the declaration alleges.
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The criminal complaint details 65 separate occasions between March 27, 2015, and May 12 of this year in which Johnson is alleged to have falsified invoices for abatement work that was supposed to be performed by the shell company. Amounts on the invoices varied, but were generally under $2,000 each, according to the complaint.
Perry allegedly filed federal tax returns in 2015 and 2016 indicating that the company received income from the city of Rancho Mirage. Johnson was also captured in security camera photos making ATM withdrawals from the Perry Property Preservation account, the declaration alleges.
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Johnson, who turned herself in last Friday, resigned from the city several months ago following a sheriff's department investigation that began in May.
She posted $79,000 bail Friday, but a judge instituted a bail hold after determining it may have come from a felonious source, court records show.
Perry, who also faces two counts of embezzlement and one count of conspiracy, surrendered this week and is slated to be arraigned Nov. 20.
— By City News Service / Image via Riverside County Sheriff's Department
