Former Rancho Mirage city employee charged with embezzlement turns herself in
A former city of Rancho Mirage employee accused along with her sister-in-law of embezzling almost $80,000 from the city turned herself into authorities Friday.
Sandra Johnson, 50, of Indio, and Brandi Perry, 40, of Desert Hot Springs, are accused of using Johnson’s position as the city’s senior manager for the Building and Safety Code Compliance Division to siphon the funds over the course of more than two years.
Johnson resigned from the city several months ago following a Sheriff’s Department investigation that began in May.
According to sheriff’s Sgt. David Wright, Johnson surrendered Friday and was booked into the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility in Banning. Perry also turned herself in this week, and both women have since been released on $79,000 bail apiece, court records show.
The women were each charged Tuesday with two counts of embezzlement and one count of conspiracy to commit a crime.
Perry is slated to be arraigned Nov. 20 in Indio, while an arraignment date has not yet been set for Johnson.
According to an arrest warrant declaration, Johnson was allowed to authorize expenses for code enforcement work. She and Perry allegedly opened an account for a company called “Brandi Perry DBA Perry Property Preservation,” which charged the city for “abatement work” that investigators say never occurred. Invoices for deposits into the Perry Property Preservation account were “falsified,” with the city charged for “services not performed,” the declaration states.
The criminal complaint details 65 separate occasions between March 27, 2015, and May 12 of this year in which Johnson is alleged to have falsified invoices for abatement work that was supposed to be performed by the shell company. Amounts on the invoices vary, but were generally under $2,000 each, according to the complaint.
Perry allegedly filed federal tax returns in 2015 and 2016 indicating that the company received income from the city of Rancho Mirage. Johnson was also captured in security camera photos making ATM withdrawals from the Perry Property Preservation account, the declaration alleges.
