Former Financial Services Employee Accused Of Stealing $4.6M From Client Accounts

LOS ANGELES (CBS) — A former account manager at a Los Angeles financial services firm has been charged with 17 counts of grand theft for allegedly stealing more than $4.6 million from 16 victims over six years.

Diane Schumacher, 58, surrendered to authorities and is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday on charges she stolen amounts ranging from $22,000 to more than $690,000 from clients while working at Keepers Financial Corporation, a company providing bookkeeping and bill payment services.

Prosecutors say the thefts happened between November 2003 and August 2009 and that Schumacher used her clients' funds to pay her creditors. She also concealed her crimes by replenishing looted accounts with money from the accounts of other clients, prosecutors said.

The alleged theft was discovered through an audit of Schumacher's accounts.

Schumacher was terminated from the company in late 2009 after working there for 12 years.

Schumacher's bail is recommended at more than $6.5 million. If she is convicted as charged, Schumacher faces a maximum state prison term of 22 years, eight months.