SALINAS — Two former employees of a Taylor Farms subsidiary have pleaded no contest to embezzling more than $3 million from the company and will serve state prison sentences, the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office announced June 17.
Karen Rodriguez, 38, and Elizabeth Vargas, 34, both current residents of Arizona, each pleaded no contest to two felony counts of embezzlement and sentencing enhancements for theft exceeding $500,000.
According to prosecutors, Rodriguez and Vargas carried out a $3 million embezzlement scheme while working in the Human Resources Department of Automated Harvesting LLC, a subsidiary of Taylor Farms, between 2019 and 2023.
The DA’s Office said the pair issued and cashed hundreds of fraudulent checks made payable to former H-1B visa employees who had returned to Mexico and were no longer employed by the company.
The theft was discovered by Taylor Farms in 2023, prompting an investigation by the Salinas Police Department. Detectives Byron Gansen and Pete Gomez led the investigation, which was later continued by the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office with assistance from District Attorney Investigator Rachel Maldonado and Forensic Auditor Sandra Kyzivat.
Rodriguez and Vargas are scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 8. Each will receive a sentence of six years and eight months in the California Department of Corrections, according to the DA’s Office.
