Atascadero woman pleads guilty to embezzlement

February 20, 2021

Joy Noel Wilde

An Atascadero woman pled guilty to 21 counts of grand theft on Thursday in exchange for a sentence of no more than 10 years and four months in prison.

San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Joy Noel Wilde, the bookkeeper for a Creston construction company, in 2019. The 41-year-old Atascadero resident forged and deposited 63 company checks totaling $957,000 into her own bank accounts.

An investigation into Wilde’s activities began on July 9, 2019 when the owner of G Wiemann reported to the sheriff’s office that his bookkeeper embezzled more than $47,000. Wilde reportedly took a check made out to a vendor for the construction company, altered the check and then deposited it in her personal bank account.

Over the course of the three-month investigation, deputies discovered numerous other company checks that Wilde deposited in her personal accounts.

Wilde is currently in custody in the SLO County Jail with her bail set at $200,000. She is scheduled to be sentenced on March 16.


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These bookkeeper fraud cases almost always involve a trusted women sitting quietly at her desk. If you have a business of a given size it would behoove you to have an outside auditing firm double checking ‘the books’. Just to keep everyone honest.


I wonder if she embezzled money when she worked at the City of San Luis Obispo? Or maybe she just helped facilitated the liberation of used equipment with the Faria Group?


Why worry about that, it would have only been taxpayer money that was embezzled, there is almost more of that if needed, just raise taxes and fees.


She is getting a lot more time than Claire Eastin who stole several hundred thousand dollars from Life Community and Templeton Community Church. She got a 2 year 8 month sentence but is no longer in the State Prison system. She probably got out early due to Covid. Hope Ms. Eastin and Ms. Wilde both are required to work the rest of the days of their lives (but not around anything they can steal) to pay restitution. Maybe picking grapes.


I wonder how much in restitution the hard working contractor will ever see!!!

Not much I’ll bet, not being a violent crime, how much time will she actually do:(