Rolex watches, private jets and a $2 million home are where nearly $18 million of a retired investor’s money went, prosecutors say, after the assistant who paid the investor’s bills used it to pay off her own credit cards.
Story Highlights
- On Monday, November 2, Lizbeth Guadalupe Sherman, 47, of El Dorado Hills, California, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud.
- Prosecutors say she took nearly $18 million from her employer, a retired Bay Area venture capitalist, between September 2015 and May 2025.
- The money paid for luxury handbags, Rolex watches, resort vacations, private jet travel, vehicles and work on her $2 million home, according to prosecutors.
- Agents who searched her home found more than 1,500 luxury items, most still in their original packaging.
- She resold designer goods online and made more than $450,000 on one site in nine months, prosecutors say.
- Sentencing is set for March 22, 2027, and she faces up to 20 years in prison.
A Shopping Spree Paid For by Her Boss
According to court documents, Sherman worked as an executive assistant to a retired Bay Area venture capitalist, a person who invests money in young companies. Her job included paying her employer’s credit card bills, and she had access to the employer’s bank account. Prosecutors say that from September 2015 through May 2025, she used that access to pay off nearly $18 million in charges on her own credit cards.
Those charges bought a lifestyle few paychecks could cover. Prosecutors listed luxury handbags, Rolex watches, resort vacations, private jet travel and vehicles. The money also paid for improvements to her $2 million home in El Dorado Hills, a suburb east of Sacramento. The charge she admitted, wire fraud, is a federal crime that covers schemes to steal money through electronic means, such as bank transfers or the internet.
A Side Business and 1,500 Luxury Items
Sherman did more than collect the goods. Prosecutors say she resold designer products bought with her employer’s money on online sites, turning card purchases into cash. On one site alone, she made more than $450,000 in nine months in 2025.
In December 2025, agents searched her home and found more than 1,500 luxury items, most in mint condition with the original packaging and tags. The haul included dozens of Louis Vuitton handbags, many pairs of Christian Louboutin boots, a display case of handbags made from exotic furs, Rolex watches and premium wine. IRS Criminal Investigation led the case, with help from the FBI and the U.S. Marshals Service Asset Forfeiture Program.
How It Ran So Long, and What Comes Next
Most workplace thefts are far smaller and are caught far sooner. A 2024 study by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, a group that trains fraud investigators, put the typical loss at $145,000, and the typical scheme lasted 12 months before it was found. Sherman’s ran for nearly 10 years. When one person both pays the bills and holds the keys to the bank account, with no second set of eyes, a theft can hide for a long time.
As part of her plea deal, Sherman must give up assets tied to the crime and repay her former employer nearly $18 million. U.S. District Judge William B. Shubb is set to sentence her on March 22, 2027. She faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, and the judge will set the actual sentence under federal sentencing rules.
Sources:
southtahoenow.com, justice.gov, villagelife.com, fox40.com, cshco.com
