Anderson woman pleads not guilty to embezzlement charge

PHYLLIS CHAMBERS

An Anderson woman suspected of embezzling more than $104,000 from a Redding car dealership pleaded not guilty Monday in Shasta County Superior Court.

Phyllis Ann Chambers, who remains free on her own recognizance, is tentatively scheduled for a preliminary hearing Feb. 10 to determine whether she will be ordered to stand trial.

Chambers, 48, was arrested in November on suspicion of embezzlement and two related enhancements.

She faces up to five years in prison if convicted.

Chambers, who is being represented by the Shasta County public defender's office, is accused of embezzling money from S.J. Denham between January 2004 and the end of July 2008, according to a criminal complaint filed Nov. 13 by the district attorney's office.

Chambers worked in S.J. Denham's finance department from July 2000 until she was fired in early August, according to an affidavit attached to a search warrant.

Her duties included receiving the mail, bank statement reconciliation and accounts receivable, the affidavit said. She also made daily bank deposits, it added.

A Redding Police Department investigative summary made public Monday shows that the car dealership's owner, Randy Denham, filed a report with police in October claiming that Chambers allegedly embezzled about $15,000 from the business.

The alleged thefts began to come to light in late July when an accounts payable clerk at the car dealership noticed an electronic transfer of $585.71 from the business to pay a Pacific Gas & Electric Co. bill, the affidavit said.

Further investigation revealed that the funds went to pay Chambers' personal PG&E bill, it said.

When later confronted about it, Chambers, who was fired that day, said that PG&E must have made a mistake. But S.J. Denham is on North Market Street in Redding, which receives power from Redding Electric Utility.

The car dealership then began to further investigate areas in which Chambers was involved, and the summary report claims that Chambers altered a $15,200 S.J. Denham check to pay off back mortgage payments on her house.

That discovery led to an audit being performed, which resulted in other financial discrepancies being found, the report said.

Jim Schultz can be reached at 225-8223 or at jschultz@redding.com.