Executive Assistant Pleads Guilty to Nearly $18 Million Fraud

On November 2, 2026, Lizbeth Guadalupe Sherman, 47, admitted to wire fraud in a scheme that took nearly $18 million from a retired Bay Area venture capitalist. Sherman, of El Dorado Hills, California, worked as the employer’s executive assistant and had access to bank accounts to manage credit card bills. The employer’s name was withheld in court records.

The theft began around September 2015 and continued until May 2025. Rather than paying her employer’s expenses, Sherman used the accounts to cover her own credit card charges. The amounts taken included $13.7 million from one card and $4.4 million from another.

The money funded a $2 million home, travel including private jet trips, cars and designer goods. Sherman also resold some of the items. On one online marketplace, she brought in more than $450,000 over nine months in 2025.

A December 2025 search of her home uncovered more than 1,500 luxury goods, including Rolex watches, Birkin bags and designer shoes. In May 2025, when confronted by her employer, Sherman acknowledged taking $989,000 and proposed repaying that amount over three years. Court filings say that figure was one she chose, while her employer believed the loss was about $1 million.

An order issued October 28 directs some of Sherman’s assets to be sold, with proceeds credited toward restitution. She is required to repay nearly $18 million and faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Her sentencing is scheduled for March 22, 2027.