San Benito County will conduct a full audit of the public library after two former employees were convicted of embezzling more than $360,000 from the county.
Former library staff members Erin Baxter and Mary Alvarez were recently convicted of embezzling about $360,755 of library funds by altering invoices sent to the San Benito County Auditor’s Office, according to county officials. The fraudulently submitted payment requests were processed and paid out of the auditor’s office from December 2019 to March 2023.
Baxter and Alvarez had used the funds to purchase expensive items for themselves—mostly from Amazon—that were later found at Baxter’s home, according to investigators.
“Based on an initial review of the activities conducted by the Auditor’s Office, it appeared that the former Supervising Librarian was using a county-issued credit card (CalCard) to make multiple unapproved personal item purchases that appeared not to be library business-related,” says a county staff report from the Sept. 9 board of supervisors meeting.
The defendants had conspired to digitally alter invoices from Amazon to disguise the purchases for payment, county staff said. The invoices were submitted to the county auditor’s office, and were subsequently paid out.
The payment of the unauthorized invoices raises “serious concerns about internal controls, oversight mechanisms and potential systemic vulnerabilities,” the county staff report says.
County Auditor Joe Paul Gonzalez said at the meeting that Baxter and Alvarez had been “colluding” to embezzle the public funds. He added the fraud occurred largely due to a loss of “separation of duties” under a former department head “who had in essence retired on the job.”
County staff and law enforcement investigators learned about the embezzlement when Amazon contacted the county administration office to obtain payment for items purchased through county accounts by the two former employees.
District Attorney Joel Buckingham, whose office prosecuted Baxter and Alvarez, said the defendants were able to steal the library funds due to a loss of internal controls within the county and inadequate supervision of the former staff members.
The DA named two former county employees whose duties included supervision of library employees while the embezzlement was happening—former county librarian Nora Conte, who retired in May 2024; and former County Administrative Officer Ray Espinosa.
Gonzalez and Buckingham spoke during public comment during a discussion about the embezzlement scheduled by the supervisors at the Sept. 9 meeting. The focus of the board’s discussion was whether the county should hire an outside public accounting firm to conduct a comprehensive audit of county finances.
The board voted unanimously to take the first step in that process, which is to direct staff to compile and issue a request for proposals from accounting firms to perform the audit.
Supervisor Kollin Kosmicki said he and other county officials had wanted to begin a thorough audit or investigation of the library when they noticed discrepancies in the budget over a year ago. However, they were advised they should wait until the criminal charges against Baxter and Alvarez were resolved before taking action at the county administration level.
While Buckingham and Gonzalez noted that the criminal investigation largely uncovered internal circumstances within the county that allowed or facilitated the library fraud, supervisors added that a full audit by an independent, outside organization is the best way to hold the public trust and ensure adequate oversight of public funds.
County Counsel Gregory Priamos said an audit would demonstrate “a commitment to ethical governance (and that) the board takes financial integrity seriously.” An audit could also help “establish controls, not only in the library department, but throughout the county organization.”
Priamos added that while the audit might uncover knowledge that leads to new policies that reduce risk, it could also identify areas where the county has failed to adhere to state and federal regulations. That, in turn, “may lead to a loss of critical grant funding.”
Supervisor Angela Curro agreed with her colleagues that proceeding with a full audit is clearly the responsible choice, especially at a time when San Benito County is suffering from a growing revenue shortfall and may have to ask taxpayers for more money.
“There is no way we are going to win our constituents over if we cannot identify and (prevent) this from happening again,” Curro said. “I don’t feel confident we have full control over what’s going on. It is imperative now more than ever that our internal controls are locked down.”
The cost for an audit will be determined through the RFP process set in motion by the board Sept. 9. The full process—including the hiring of a firm and the work conducting the audit—will take up to four months.
