A Foster City woman who worked as a clinical director of StarVista, a now-defunct nonprofit that provided case management and crisis prevention services for in San Mateo County, pleaded no contest to three felonies for embezzling around $700,000 from the organization over a period of 13 years, San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said.
The woman, Clarise Blanchard, 78, pleaded no contest to felony embezzlement, felony tax fraud and felony identity theft and now faces up to three years and four months in state prison, Wagstaffe said.
Blanchard had set up a separate account under her own name to funnel donations beginning in 2008, Wagstaffe said previously. The embezzlement was discovered after her retirement in 2022 through an audit.
StarVista closed its doors this summer, citing a host of financial problems over the last year — from payroll delays to layoffs, program closures and the CEO’s sudden leave of absence.
Blanchard will still be required to pay the money back in an amount to be determined, Wagstaffe said, either at her sentencing hearing Jan. 21 or a separate restitution hearing.
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
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PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
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