Yuba County woman admits embezzling from Richmond paver company

MARTINEZ — A Yuba County woman has agreed to pay nearly a million dollars in restitution to a Richmond company after pleading guilty to a 12-count complaint related to embezzling, authorities said.

Angela Fae Brown, 53, of Oliverhurst, entered her plea into Contra Costa County Superior Court on Friday, admitting her guilt to offenses related to identity theft, money laundering, grand theft, tax evasion and false impersonation, according to a statement from Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office spokesperson Ted Asregadoo. The charges included a special allegation of aggravated white-collar crime, he said.

A grand jury indicted Brown in April, accusing her of embezzling more than $900,000 from a paver company in Richmond that employed her. According to Asregadoo, Brown took her accounting skills to exploit financial vulnerabilities in the company and used them to enrich herself.

Asregadoo said that in accordance with the plea agreement, the court will suspend Brown’s 10-year prison sentence for three years and place her on formal probation. He added that the sentence suspension would allow Brown to seek and maintain employment in order to pay the restitution.

Brown owes about $907,000 to the company and another $61,860 toward state taxes, Asregadoo said.

Assets that Brown purchased from September 2017 to November 2022 — the time Asregadoo said the scheme took place — will be sold, and those funds will be applied to her restitution payments, he said. Brown could serve her sentence in state prison should she violate the agreement