Arroyo Grande woman ordered to pay $1.3 million in restitution

June 28, 2022

By KAREN VELIE

A 57-year-old bookkeeper from Arroyo Grande was ordered on Monday to pay restitution of $1,304,524 to Rick Machado Livestock. Late last year, Ginger Lee Mankins was sentenced to 10 years in prison for embezzlement.

Mankins stole more than $4 million from Rick Machado Livestock and B&D Farms. Initially charged with 15 felony counts, Mankins pleaded guilty to six counts and admitted that her theft exceeded $500,000.

Mankins embezzled $3,440,205 between May 2007 and Jan. 2018 from Machado Livestock and caused further losses to the business in the amount of $811,317. At the restitution hearing, evidence was also presented that Mankins and her husband repaid $2,947,000, leaving $1,304,524 owed to Machado Livestock.

Restitution was not ordered for the second victim of embezzlement, B&D Farms, as a final accounting has yet to be completed. A hearing to determine losses suffered by B&D Farms is scheduled for Oct. 5.

The case was investigated by the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office Bureau of Investigations with the aid of the Arroyo Grande Police Department and was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Michael Frye.

“Embezzlement committed by employees in positions of trust are especially devastating, particularly when it involves staggering amounts of stolen funds over such an extended period of time,” said District Attorney Dan Dow. “This ten-year prison sentence and order to repay more than $1,300,000 of stolen funds affirms that those who steal from our business community will face aggressive prosecution in San Luis Obispo County.”