A 45-year-old office manager is in custody after orchestrating a massive embezzlement scheme. Ida Veronica Hernandez pleaded guilty on January 21, 2026, to seven felony counts of grand theft.
The crimes took place between 2020 and 2021 at a medical practice in Thousand Oaks. Hernandez used her role as bookkeeper to funnel large sums of money into bank accounts she controlled.
To hide her tracks, she created fictitious employees and used multiple aliases. Prosecutors say she also committed identity theft against her own coworkers to confuse investigators.
At one point, she even tried to frame a fellow employee for the financial irregularities. When the practice owners began to notice the missing funds, Hernandez abruptly quit and fled the area.
She was eventually tracked across the country by investigators. Authorities discovered she was also wanted for similar financial crimes in Orange County and Plano, Texas.
In total, she is accused of stealing roughly $550,000 from the Thousand Oaks office. She has now admitted to a special allegation that the theft exceeded $100,000.
Hernandez is currently being held on a $600,000 bond. She remains in custody as she awaits her sentencing hearing in Ventura County Superior Court.
A judge is scheduled to hand down her sentence in late February. Prosecutors are pushing for significant prison time due to her extensive criminal history and the sophisticated nature of the theft.