Alleged Bay Area Con Artist Arrested In NYC; Wanted In $1 Million Marin Embezzlement Case
SAN RAFAEL (CBS SF) -- A former Marin County woman, who is suspected of embezzling more than $1 million from a stuffed toy company in San Rafael, has been arrested in New York City where she was living under an assumed name, authorities said.
San Rafael Police Lt. Dan Fink said 53-year-old allegedly embezzled the money from the Plushy Feely Corp. where she worked in 2016 and 2017 as a bookkeeper.
The company developed the toys with different personalities called Kimochis, the Japanese word for feelings, that are used in therapy to help children and adults become more resilient and cope with challenges of everyday life, according to the company's website.
When the embezzlement was discovered, Breshears was confronted and left Plushy Feely. She then started working as a bookkeeper at an East Bay paint company, and when thefts were discovered there, Breshears moved to New York City and assumed a different name.
"She got wind that we knew and she was gone," Fink said.
San Rafael police Detective Kevin MacDougald tracked Breshears to New York City, where she was working for a property management company from which she is suspected of embezzling $40,000, Fink said.
"She was known by at least three different names," he said. "She's a constant con artist who leaves a trail of victims everywhere she goes and actively evades arrest."
The U.S. Marshals Service arrested Breshears on Nov. 4, and she is expected to arrive in San Rafael Tuesday to be arraigned on arrest warrants dating to 2017 for embezzlement, identity theft and writing checks with insufficient funding.
Police are concerned about Breshears posting bail and being released from jail and they will seek a bail enhancement that keeps her in custody, Fink said.
"We hope she wants to answer to the charges and go on with her life," Fink said.
Plushy Feely's new CEO Ned Kraft said Friday the company now has a San Francisco address but employees work online at home.
It was a traumatic and challenging period, but the company is raising sufficient money to continue, Kraft said.