SAN FRANCISCO—The San Francisco District Attorney’s Office revealed on Thursday, August 9 that Shao Cai, 60, of San Francisco, pled guilty to embezzling over $100,000 from his employer, Jest Jewels, between 2012 to 2016.
“With all the pressures on small business owners the last thing they should have to worry about is if they can trust the people that work for them,” said District Attorney George Gascón. “Employees are expected to carry out their responsibilities with integrity.”
A press release from the SFDA’s Office indicated that court records shows that Cai was a bookkeeper for Jest Jewels from 2002-2017. Between 2012 and 2016, the defendant wrote fraudulent checks and deposited them into his own personal bank account and used various schemes to hide his stealing of the funds.
Cai was arrested on November 9, 2017 on felony charges of grand theft. He entered a plea of guilty on August 9, 2018 on two counts of felony grand theft with a white collar crime enhancement. He will serve a 9-month sentence, with 6 months in county jail and 3 months servable through the Sheriff’s Work Alternative Program (SWAP).
He will be on probation for three years. Cai must pay restitution of $111,631.66 to the victims within three months. Failure to pay restitution within the allotted time frame will result in Cai serving a sentence of 2 years and 4 months in state prison.
