Employee Allegedly Took More Than $1 Million from Solana Beach Company

Jennifer Lyndi Davey, 64, accused of embezzling almost $1.5 million while she worked as an office manager in Solana Beach, was arraigned in the Vista courthouse on February 3.

Davey pleaded not guilty to charges of forgery and grand theft of monies from five different bank accounts of her employer, William Beckman, of Beckman Properties.

Davey was reportedly hired in 2000 and fired in October 2007, when her bookkeeping skills were found to be “not satisfactory,” according to sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. M. Varnau. The sergeant opined that the accused woman might have been busy creating a “counterfeit set of records.”

Davey “had access to Mr. Beckman’s bank accounts, both business and personal, in order to pay bills as part of her job duties,” according to prosecutor Anna Winn. The new office manager discovered “irregularities in the bank records” and a business entity named Professional Advisors Unlimited, which Mr. Beckman “had never heard of,” according to Winn.

Winn said that Davey sometimes wrote large checks to pay off her monthly balance at Neiman Marcus, although her highest salary when employed with Beckman was $60,000 annually. The forged checks ranged in amounts from $2000 to $10,000, according to Winn.

Davey was arrested on February 2 at her current job behind the counter at a CVS pharmacy store in La Jolla, according to Varnau. Davey reportedly asked the arresting officers, “Do you have to handcuff me?” and a deputy responded “Yes.”

The prosecutor said it is not known where the allegedly stolen $1,487,029 amount is now and suggested that the defendant might offer to return those assets in a not-yet-constructed plea deal.

Davey is now in Las Colinas Women’s Detention Facility in lieu of $2 million bail. Her next court appearance is set for February 15.