Lizbeth Guadalupe Sherman Pleads Guilty to Stealing Nearly $18 Million From Her Employer Over a Decade
El Dorado Hills, in El Dorado County, California, saw an employee-theft case resolved on November 2: a woman pleaded guilty in federal court to stealing nearly $18 million from her employer over a decade while working as an executive assistant, using the money to pay her own extravagant credit card bills.
The defendant, Lizbeth Guadalupe Sherman, 47, of El Dorado Hills, pleaded guilty on November 2 to one count of wire fraud. U.S. Attorney Eric Grant announced the plea. The case is being heard in the Eastern District of California; the plea was entered in Sacramento, in Sacramento County.
According to court documents, Sherman worked as an executive assistant to a retired Bay Area venture capitalist. In that role she was tasked with paying her employer's credit card expenses and was granted access to her employer's bank account. Between September 2015 and May 2025, Sherman abused that access and stole nearly $18 million.
The Justice Department said she spent tens of thousands of dollars on luxury handbags, Rolex watches, resort-level vacations, private jet travel, and vehicles, and on improvements to a $2 million residence in El Dorado Hills. She also resold designer products bought with the employer's money on online platforms, earning more than $450,000 on one platform over nine months in 2025.
In December 2025, law enforcement executed a search warrant at her residence and recovered more than 1,500 luxury items, most in mint condition with original packaging and tags intact, stored and displayed throughout the residence. In a closet, officers found dozens of Louis Vuitton handbags lining the top shelf, many pairs of Christian Louboutin boots, and a display case full of handbags made of exotic furs acquired with proceeds of the fraud.
As part of the plea agreement, Sherman is subject to forfeiture and restitution to her employer of nearly $18 million. She is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge William B. Shubb on March 22, 2027, and faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine; the actual sentence will be determined by the court after consideration of applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
IRS Criminal Investigation conducted the investigation with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Marshals Service Asset Forfeiture Program. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dhruv M. Sharma and Kevin C. Khasigian are prosecuting the case.
(Source: U.S. Department of Justice)
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于 Sacramento 的 Robert T. Matsui 联邦法院大楼（加州东区联邦地区法院所在地）。Tony Webster 摄，CC BY-SA 2.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The Robert T. Matsui United States Courthouse in Sacramento, home of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California. Photo by Tony Webster, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
