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SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS
Couple charged with embezzling $1.3M from San Jose hardware store

A married couple are expected to be arraigned in Santa Clara County Superior Court on Thursday on charges that the wife embezzled $1.3 million from the hardware company where she worked and then laundered the money with her husband through their bank account.
Prosecutors have charged Desiree and Ruben Herrera with 14 counts of grand theft, money laundering and filing a false income tax return, according to Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office spokeswoman Amy Cornell.
They are in custody, and Cornell said she wouldn't know if they are being represented by an attorney until the arraignment.
According to the criminal complaint, Desiree Hererra, 36, was an accounts receivable clerk for County Building Materials, which goes by the name Payless Hardware and Rockery, on South King Road in San Jose.
The complaint states that from 2002 to 2009, Herrera embezzled more than $1.3 million from the company, and then she and Ruben Herrera, 37, "laundered" part of the stolen money through their bank account.
The state Franchise Tax Board also charges that the Herreras failed to report the income they earned on their tax forms from 2006 to 2008. The tax board estimates the Herreras owe more than $182,000 in unpaid taxes and penalties.
Reached today by phone, Payless Hardware and Rockery manager Harry Glaze credited the company's office manager, Karey Thatcher, for discovering what was going on. He said Thatcher was in the process of switching accounting systems when she asked Herrera to begin providing her numbers.
"And the numbers coming to her desk from Desiree were different than the numbers she had," Glaze said. "She put the two together and started going back further and further."
Glaze noted that the amount of money is huge to a small company like the one he runs. "I could have probably retired by now," he said half-jokingly.
He also described Herrera as a nice, friendly employee — someone he never would have suspected of such a crime.