Case library / Money, billing and honesty
62 checks written at a bookkeeping job, and a revoked registration
In short
62 checks written at a bookkeeping job, and a revoked registration?
Registration revoked
RevokedNothing to do with therapy, no client involved, and the registration went anyway.
What happened
She was employed as an accounts payable clerk at a plumbing company — a job with no connection to her registration or to any client.
She wrote 62 checks to herself, totalling $183,200.
She was convicted on 33 felony counts of grand theft by embezzlement and one count of money laundering, with an aggravated white-collar crime enhancement. The sentence was 365 days in county jail stayed, two years of supervised probation, and $195,600 in restitution.
What it was charged as
Conviction of a substantially related crime.
A dishonest, corrupt or fraudulent act substantially related to the duties of a licensee.
The outcome
Registration revoked.
No cost recovery stated in the orderWhat the rule actually says
“Substantially related” is defined by 16 CCR §1812 as conduct that to a substantial degree evidences present or potential unfitness, judged on three factors: the nature and gravity of the offense, the number of years since it happened, and the nature and duties of a marriage and family therapist. Dishonesty involving money and a position of trust clears that bar without ever touching a client.
Where insurance reaches, and where it does not
Entirely outside professional liability coverage — it is not a professional service, there is no claimant, and criminal acts are excluded. The board proceeding that follows is a board-defense claim, and it is the reason to check whether your sublimit is per proceeding or per year.
What would have changed it
- The teaching point is simply that §4982(a) and (j) reach your whole life. Bookkeeping, a second job, a shoplifting charge, a bar fight — the test is the §1812 relationship test, not whether it happened at work.
- The Board learns about it automatically. Convictions and arrests arrive at BBS through the Department of Justice notification feed under Penal Code §11105.2, which is the single largest source of BBS discipline. There is no version of this where nobody finds out.
Source. This write-up is drawn from the signed public decision in the case number above. Names, cities and employers have been removed — why. To pull the original, open the Board's quarterly newsletter archive, find the issue covering February 12, 2026, and match the case number in the Formal Disciplinary Actions section. Not legal advice.
