HOA embezzler to get three years, four months prison

Lambert has been out of custody on her own supervised recognizance since late 2016, shortly after she pleaded no contest to felony embezzlement and forgery convictions and admitted she stole more than $100,000. Her co-conspirator Michael Medeiros, 62, was sentenced to seven years state prison Sept. 14 after a jury found him guilty of felony embezzlement and felony grand theft following a 12-day jury trial ending May 11, according to prosecutors.

It’s been more than five years since residents of the condominium homeowners’ association were tipped off about a possible embezzlement scheme. Lambert had managed the association, which had a nearly $5 million annual budget, for more than a decade. A Woodlake resident previously said homeowners caught wind of the theft when a board member saw suspicious activity, including charges at various casinos, on a bank statement from a debit card Lambert had been issued.

After Lambert was fired, the association uncovered a stack of nearly 150 false invoices for construction work that was never completed. Police and investigators determined she had been conspiring to defraud the homeowners between Feb. 8, 2007, and September 2013, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors said Lambert, who reportedly had a gambling problem, would make false invoices and write checks to Medeiros’ company Professional Painting, Inc. He would then allegedly cash the checks and the two would split the profits.

Because Lambert agreed to testify in Medeiros’ trial, a judge chose to delay Lambert’s sentencing until Medeiros’ trial was adjudicated, according to prosecutors.

Lambert’s defense attorney George Eshoo could not be reached for comment.