Peninsula Woman Sentenced for Part in Embezzlement Scheme

For her role in a scam that fetched more than $200,000 in illicit funds, the secretary of a woman convicted of embezzlement was sentenced Friday, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office.

Evelyn Vallacqua, 44, was facing felony charges for embezzling funds with her boss at St. Patrick’s Seminary and University in Menlo Park, according to the district attorney’s office.

Judge Jonathan Karesh on Friday sentenced Vallacqua to three years of probation plus three months in county jail. In addition, she must pay $21,542 in restitution to her former employer, prosecutors said.

Back in May, Vallacqua pleaded no contest to felony embezzlement in exchange for this sentence and a testimony, according to the district attorney’s office.

The sentencing of Vallacqua follows the sentencing of her boss, Jennifer Morris, who in June also pleaded no contest to felony embezzlement.

Morris was sentenced on Aug. 7 to nine months in county jail for felony embezzlement and five years of probation. She must pay $49,596.28 in restitution.

Vallacqua was Morris’ secretary during the time of her alleged embezzlement.

Morris, who was a director of finance at St. Patrick’s Seminary and University, used her personal credit card to make company purchases and then reimbursed herself from the seminary’s funds to accrue airline miles, according to prosecutors.

An audit done by the seminary revealed that in the six years of her doing this, she made more than $166,000 in unauthorized personal purchases. Morris also overpaid herself by $36,000 in 2011 and 2012 and stole a donated 1982 Mercedes Benz, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said Vallacqua facilitated this activity by issuing improper reimbursement checks to her boss. She also accepted unauthorized severance payments, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors reported that Vallacqua was out of custody on $10,000 bail. She was granted a stay on her surrender to jail until Jan. 9, 2016.

-- City News Service, photo via Shutterstock