Monterey County District Attorney’s Office Recovers $327,991 in Restitution for Local Schools and Non-Profit Organizations After Embezzlement and Theft Convictions of Lolita Garcia

Monterey, California - Monterey County District Attorney Jeannine M. Pacioni announced on Friday, August 13 that $327,991.86 in restitution will be provided to the following organizations: Salinas City Elementary School District $2,427.42 North Monterey County Unified School District $8,352.57 Greenfield School District $244.87 Carmel Unified School District $5,414.11 Pacific Grove Unified School District $105,045.32 Monterey County Office of Education $15,758.24 San Andreas Regional Center $76,721.62 Monterey County Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA) $17,610.19 California Franchise Tax Board $96,417.52 Total $327,991.86 These restitution funds were recovered through the People v. Lolita Garcia criminal case for embezzlement, tax evasion, submitting false invoices, and theft by false pretenses. Garcia was sentenced on December 2, 2020, to 4 years state prison for these crimes. In 2008, Garcia formed a nonprofit called Central Coast Kids & Families to provide in-home respite services to families of children with special needs. These respite services were paid for by the San Andreas Regional Center (“SARC”), a nonprofit corporation funded by the State of California to serve people with developmental disabilities. Central Coast Kids & Families also provided in- school aides to children with special needs through the Salinas City Elementary School District, North Monterey County Unified School District (“USD”), Greenfield School District, Carmel USD, Pacific Grove USD, as well as the Monterey County Office of Education. These in-school services were paid for by such public school districts and offices. The People’s investigation revealed Garcia routinely overbilled these schools and SARC for hours that Central Coast Kids & Families’ employees did not actually work. The People examined hundreds of invoices and timesheets for the 2013-14 and 2014-15 school years and found Garcia intentionally overbilled the public school districts and SARC in a total amount of $192,823 during these years. From 2013 to 2015, Garcia embezzled a total of $675,646 from the nonprofit that she formed, and used such stolen and embezzled funds to purchase personal luxuries. Garcia also failed to report the amounts embezzled for personal expenditures on her tax returns. At the time Garcia was arrested for these crimes, the People obtained orders from the Court allowing the seizure of valuable personal property and accounts of Garcia’s, including the Central Coast Kids & Families business and accounts, personal bank and investment accounts, a Porsche Carrera, a Maserati Ghibli, a Land Rover Range Rover, a Toyota Tundra, a Jeep Wrangler, a diamond Rolex watch, and Louis Vuitton handbags, all of which Garcia had purchased with stolen and/or embezzled funds. These assets were held by a court-appointed Receiver while the criminal case was pending, and following Garcia’s sentencing, were liquidated. The Receivership has now been terminated and it has turned over a total of $327,991.86 for distribution to the victim organizations listed above. Garcia is still responsible for payment of her remaining restitution obligations which total $458,135, excluding interest. This case was investigated by District Attorney Investigator Jackie Meroney and District Attorney Forensic Auditor Sandra Kyzivat. District Attorney Pacioni stated “Lolita Garcia abused the trust that these public agencies had in her as the executive director of a charitable organization. So often in theft and embezzlement cases, there are no assets available to satisfy restitution obligations. Here, we were able to recover substantial assets at the outset of the case to satisfy a large portion of restitution due to these public agencies that are providing critical services to children and parents in our community.”