Oak Harbor bookkeeper sentenced to 90 days in jail for embezzling

Published 3:23 pm Friday, February 6, 2015

A former bookkeeper for an Oak Harbor property management company who embezzled more than $30,000 was recently sentenced to jail.

Theresa M. Gonsalves, 48, of Oak Harbor pleaded guilty in Island County Superior Court last month to one count of first-degree theft.

Gonsalves apologized to the victims and promised to pay them back as soon as she could.

“I took a great deal of money in small increments from my employer without their knowledge with the intent of paying it back,” she wrote in her statement. “However, this never happened, and I know that what I did was very, very wrong and that I should not have done it.”

Deputy Prosecutor David Carman recommended a sentence at the top of the standard sentencing range and Judge Alan Hancock agreed.

Hancock sentenced Gonsalves to 90 days in jail and ordered her to pay nearly $32,000 in restitution to the owners of Rogers, Rische and Doll Inc., which does business as Homes For Rent.

Co-owner Tommie Rogers said the worst thing about the theft was the breach of trust by a once-trusted employee. He said the company treated her well, but she stole from them more than 30 times.

“She was able to sit there on a daily basis and look us in the eyes,” he said this week. “It really makes you wonder.”

Rogers contacted police last year after discovering a $1,500 discrepancy in the company’s accounting. He approached Gonsalves about it; she admitted to taking the money because “she had fallen on hard times,” according to the police report.

Rogers told the bookkeeper that she should have come to him if she needed money.

“He had helped other employees who were in similar circumstances and they had come to an agreement on paying him back,” the officer said in his report.

Gonsalves became very emotional and started crying when Rogers told her that she was fired. He became suspicious and realized that the situation might be worse than the missing $1,500.

He reviewed the business’ financial records and discovered shortages totaling more than $30,000 from the period of March 2011 to March 2014, according to the officer’s report.