A former bookkkeeper for a San Francisco doctor has been charged in federal court in the city with embezzling $243,000 from the physician over four years to pay her personal credit card bills.
Catherine O’Shea, 42, of Daly City, was charged in a sealed grand jury indictment on Jan. 6. The indictment was unsealed today after she was arraigned and pleaded not guilty to five counts of wire fraud before U.S. Magistrate Jacqueline Scott Corley.
O’Shea worked for the unnamed doctor as a bookkeeper and office manager from 2004 through December 2012, according to the indictment.
The indictment alleges that she embezzled a total of $243,000 between June 2008, when the doctor gave O’Shea the password to the medical practice’s bank accounts, and November 2012.
O’Shea is specifically charged with five counts of wire fraud for five transfers from the doctor’s business account, totaling about $12,000, to O’Shea’s credit card account between 2010 and 2012.
The indictment alleges O’Shea falsely listed the transfer amounts as payments for office supplies or rent.
O’Shea was released by Corley on a $50,000 unsecured bond and is due to return to court Friday for a further bond hearing. She will also appear on Jan. 21 before U.S. District Judge Edward Chen, the trial judge assigned to the case.
Julia Cheever, Bay City News
