Woman Suspected of Embezzling Over $450,000

The booking page for Christine Kelsay indicates she was booked at 10:16 a.m. and released at 10:59 a.m.

This is a press release from the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office. The information has not been proven in a court of law and the individuals described should be presumed innocent until proven guilty:

Kelsay, Christine

Kelsay, Christine

On 1-19-2015 the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office was contacted by the owners of the Long Valley Market in Laytonville California.  They reported that the market had been the victim of embezzlement at the hands of an employee. The owners further reported they suspected the embezzlement had been occurring for approximately 7 years.

The case was assigned to the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Detectives Bureau for investigation.  Detectives identified the suspect as Christine Kelsay, 33 years of age, from Willits.  Detectives obtained probable cause and authored 9 separate search warrants for the suspect’s residence, three different banking institutions, an internet service provider seeking banking, financial, and electronic evidence of the reported criminal activity.

After a four month investigation Detectives presented a case to the Mendocino County District Attorney’s Office alleging the suspect embezzled in excess of $450,000 dollars over a six year time frame.  The District Attorney subsequently filed a criminal complaint, seeking an arrest warrant for the suspect.

On 6-4-2015 at 7:00 AM Detectives arrived at the suspect’s residence and placed her into custody without incident.  She was transported and booked into the Mendocino County Jail related to a felony warrant, charging her with embezzlement, grand theft, a special allegation of aggravated theft (white collar crime) and a second special allegation of theft in excess of $200,000.  She was lodged into the Mendocino County Jail and her bail was set at $50,000.

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28 Comments
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Mercy Me, Mabel!
Guest
Mercy Me, Mabel!
8 years ago

That averages over $6K per month — a MONTH! Doesn’t matter if she started with smaller amounts and grew bolder as time passed and she didn’t get caught: either way, her alleged theft must’ve burned a hole in the ledger large enough to swallow a herd of buffalo.

How the heck could she get away with that for six years?!??

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
8 years ago

Yes she worked in the back office with the books and was a close family friend to the owners. Very sad deal.

silverlining
Guest
silverlining
8 years ago

Wow. That store must make a lot of money. Just think what even a tiny skim of Ray’s in Redway would net.

Giina
Guest
Giina
8 years ago

Wow… she really milked them. I wonder if she worked in the back office as a trusted employee or if she just figured out a way to scam them. Glad they are getting rid of her, though they most likely won’t see that money in restitution. I really love stopping at the Long Valley Market on my way to and from the Bay.

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
8 years ago
Reply to  Giina

You guessed it exactly right. She was a very close family friend of the owners and she did their books. It’s a horribly terribly nasty thing she did.

veteransfriend
Guest
veteransfriend
8 years ago

Shouldn’t her bail be $450,000.? Considering bondsman charges 10-15%. It oughta hurt.

bustabrown
Guest
bustabrown
8 years ago

[edit]
Good luck proving it in court and explain please how you just didn’t notice this large amount missing every month,..
Maybe someone needs to stop smoking pot and thinking bout things

anonymous
Guest
anonymous
8 years ago
Reply to  bustabrown

It’s $6K a month not $65K. Just because they live in that area doesn’t mean their business is funded by pot. Quit stereotyping people.

Otis
Guest
Otis
8 years ago
Reply to  anonymous

Get on Google Maps, start at the store and look at every single parcel on Branscomb road. Nuff said.

anonymous
Guest
anonymous
8 years ago
Reply to  Otis

Awe that’s cute, you’re stereotyping like the OP.
I’m very familiar with the area & with the family that owns Geiger’s. I also happen to know they don’t live on Branscomb Rd.
So while Google maps may show a whole lot of activity, not everybody that lives there is a grower or a user.

Spyrock Players
Guest
Spyrock Players
8 years ago
Reply to  Otis

Jealous much?

sad4u
Guest
sad4u
8 years ago
Reply to  bustabrown

Wow assumption ignorance and judgement all in one statement. May the same come back to you when you end up in a public situation. Lets just hope you skip jury duty every time.

Susy Barsotti
Guest
Susy Barsotti
8 years ago
Reply to  bustabrown

Just because someone sell groceries to potheads doesn’t make them a pothead, too. Silly.

Joe Hansem
Guest
Joe Hansem
7 years ago
Reply to  bustabrown

they didn’t notice because the perpetrator was the one assigned to watch out for that kind of stuff as the company’s bookkeeper.

Craig
Guest
Craig
8 years ago

Sounds like a familiar story, had a family member embezzle $40,000 from my father in-law in just over a year’s time, with my discovering the loss within a month of my taking over his finances after the family member had moved away.

Ernie Branscomb
Guest
8 years ago

The bookkeeper probably wrote it off as shoplifting. Personal charactor is a thing of the past. If you are in a business you had better know how to understand the books and watch them closley.

And to think, I get upset when somebody steals earbuds in our store without me catching them.

LAZY SKUNK RANCH
Guest
LAZY SKUNK RANCH
8 years ago

Sometimes when a business pays it’s labor a bottom barrel wage, it angers them and forces them to supplement their income. My guess is she got away with Enron accounting for a reason and the store owners know exactly why. One could prolly count on their hand the number of businesses in the triangle that aren’t dirty or do bad things. In short, one reaps what they sow in their time on the planet.

If she had bought bitcoin the cops wouldn’t have a clue as to where the money went. Just another reason NOT to use the federal reserve system if you aren’t going to play by the “rules”.

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
8 years ago

Wow just goes to show the ignorance of some people. A company trusted someone to do their JOB and not steal and it’s the companies fault. You people amaze me how you’re making excuses for the thief. The company is the victim not he person who stole. And stop stereotyping people that you don’t know anything about.

Brandy
Guest
Brandy
8 years ago

Just curious… What happened to Innocent until proven guilty?!? You guys are condemning someone you don’t know and have no idea if she did it or not!!!

nines
Guest
8 years ago

As your friendly neighborhood mug shot critic, I can say with confidence that Mendo World is still arresting plain old humans; Del Norte is keeping us safe from hillbilly/alien hybrids; and Humboldt is spending all its time pushing back the tide of purebred reptilian invaders from space….

moocow
Guest
moocow
8 years ago
Reply to  nines

Ha ha ha ha! Classic…
These days, who knows? NSA, secret government? Vrills?
Bottom line – in this day and age cannabis is pretty much legal, or soon will be. The market is providing a service to ALL people of the area….point is a bookkeeper misused her position of trust. How she imagined she wouldn’t get caught eventually? Either very cocky or mildly delusional…
This kind of thing makes me sad for all concerned – the owners, her friends, even the “perp:”…the violation of trust hurts everyone.

nines
Guest
8 years ago
Reply to  moocow

Truly. It feels as though the unthinkable keeps spreading its tentacles. This sort of thing might happen in places with “mean streets” and “hardboiled detectives”… in a movie or a novel… but HERE? Home? What? At least with drug addled duds, there’s the substance problem and the psychiatric deficits and existential desperation to explain it, but this… this, you’re right, is sad all around… disheartening.

No Bueno
Guest
No Bueno
8 years ago

She has to be gangster with that smirk on her face!

HotCoffee
Guest
HotCoffee
8 years ago

No wonder prices on items keep going up there a dollar at a time.

mike
Guest
mike
8 years ago

She should grow pot instead. It’s better than stealing,being on welfare,cutting down the forest,harvesting wildlife,etc.

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
8 years ago

If she ends up being guilty, which is more than likely, I hope they sue her for the amount she stole after the formal legal process plays out. They don’t deserve that at all.

Westcty
Guest
Westcty
8 years ago

The owners are great, honest people, support their town and community. This thief was trusted with back office books. Local people work there and she took from employees as well, from the town’s most respected employer and life residents the Geiger/Braught family Who deserve our sincerest support as they’ve given to us so many years.

Laytonville Concerned
Guest
Laytonville Concerned
8 years ago

Of coarse Geigers is fully responsible. They ripped off Laytonville community for almost a decade. ANY MONEY recovered from a FILED insurance claim must be returned to the community, not to the remarkably negligent owners of Geigers. They don’t deserve the insurance payoff. The owners in the end will only profit from either negligence or conspiracy with the crime. ALSO – GEIGERS MUST HAVE OVERCHARGED THE COMMUNITY to recover their losses over years. Must.

And on coarse they lock their bathrooms and force customers to ask permission to use shitty bathrooms because of employee stealing, then rip everyone off for years overcharging. What a way to treat the community?

Oh, and they pay employees $8 per hour while flushing hundreds of thousands away…. and overcharge the community to recover their “losses.”