A San Antonio bookkeeper has been sentenced to more than 13 years in federal prison after stealing from businesses that trusted her with access to their financial accounts.
Monica Marie Padilla, 49, pleaded guilty to three counts of wire fraud, one count of mail fraud and one count of money laundering. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said her schemes caused at least $595,585.41 in losses during three periods of bookkeeping work between June 2021 and February 2025.
Padilla used access to company bank accounts, credit cards and financial information to divert money for herself. Federal prosecutors said the stolen funds paid for home renovations, Disney merchandise, hundreds of DoorDash orders, cheerleading expenses and a California trip costing more than $5,700.
Her first federal indictment came in August 2023 after prosecutors accused her of stealing nearly $500,000 from two San Antonio businesses. Padilla remained on pretrial release, later obtained another bookkeeping job and committed additional fraud involving that employer and its clients.
Vendor Payments Were Redirected Into Accounts She Controlled
Padilla began working for Superior Fence Co. of San Antonio in June 2021 and was responsible for paying vendors. According to court documents reviewed by the San Antonio Express-News, she told the company’s owners that vendors would no longer accept credit card payments and persuaded them to let her establish an electronic-payment system.
Instead of sending the money to the vendors, Padilla directed payments into bank accounts she controlled while recording them in the company’s accounting system as legitimate vendor expenses. One of the wire-fraud transactions later charged in federal court involved a $42,525 transfer to a bank outside Texas.
The scheme surfaced after vendors said they had not been paid even though Superior Fence’s accounting records showed otherwise. Earlier testimony in a related civil case described receipts that appeared to show completed payments while the account and merchant information did not belong to the vendors.
Padilla later worked for J&R Tile. The federal charging document described unauthorized purchases made with company credit cards issued in the names of the owner and other employees. One later mail-fraud count involved the shipment of a $216 outdoor movie projector purchased through Amazon.
Superior Fence Had Already Won a Civil Judgment
A Bexar County abstract of judgment records that Superior Fence obtained a June 26, 2023 judgment against Monica Padilla and Raphael Padilla, jointly and severally. It lists $379,997.94 in compensatory damages, $14,687.18 in prejudgment interest, $1 million in exemplary damages and $55,653.67 in attorney’s fees and expenses, along with post-judgment interest.
The judgment came before Padilla’s August 2023 federal indictment. That indictment later accused her of stealing nearly $500,000 from two San Antonio businesses.
The Federal Case Did Not Stop Her From Taking Another Bookkeeping Job
A federal grand jury first charged Padilla in a 30-count indictment on August 16, 2023. Prosecutors filed an 18-count superseding indictment in February 2025. While Padilla was on pretrial release in the federal case, prosecutors said she violated her release conditions, lied to pretrial services and obtained remote bookkeeping work for an accounting firm.
A condition of her release required Padilla to disclose the pending federal charges to prospective employers when a position would give her access to financial accounts or transactions, according to the San Antonio Express-News’ review of the later charging document. Prosecutors said she did not make that disclosure.
The new job gave Padilla access to financial information belonging to the firm’s clients. The charging document described two purported payroll transfers totaling nearly $29,000 from client businesses into an account Padilla had opened in a family member’s name without that person’s consent.
Padilla then transferred $25,000 from that account into her own account, according to the federal case. Prosecutors said moving the money made the transaction more difficult to reverse and was intended to obscure what had happened. The transaction became the basis for the money-laundering charge to which she later pleaded guilty.
Padilla Pleaded Guilty to Five Federal Counts
The Justice Department said prosecutors filed a five-count criminal information on August 13, 2025, charging Padilla with three counts of wire fraud, one count of mail fraud and one count of money laundering. She pleaded guilty to all five counts on August 20.
The five-count case incorporated conduct spanning her bookkeeping work for multiple businesses and the later fraud committed while she was already facing federal prosecution. The Justice Department said the broader multi-year scheme caused at least $595,585.41 in total losses.
The FBI investigated the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Harris prosecuted it.
A Judge Sentenced Her to 160 Months in Federal Prison
U.S. District Judge Jason Pulliam sentenced Padilla to 160 months in prison, equivalent to 13 years and four months. The San Antonio Express-News reported that the court also ordered her to pay $468,053 in restitution.
The newspaper reported that the prison sentence exceeded a federal guideline range of nine years to 11 years and three months. Prosecutors had sought a 20-year sentence, while Padilla’s defense asked the court for a more lenient punishment.
The Justice Department emphasized the repeated nature of the conduct, including Padilla’s return to bookkeeping work and additional fraud while she was already on pretrial release in the federal case.
The Books Said Vendors Were Paid. The Vendors Said Otherwise
The Superior Fence scheme became visible when the company’s bookkeeping records and the real-world payment status stopped matching. Vendors said they were still owed money even though the books showed payments had been made.
The IRS recommends reconciling a business checking account each month so the bank statement, checkbook and accounting records agree. Its recordkeeping guidance calls for comparing transactions shown by the bank with those entered in the business’s own records and investigating differences.
The Small Business Administration also identifies accounts payable and bank reconciliation among the financial functions a business should make sure someone is managing. When accounting software says a vendor was paid but the vendor says otherwise, comparing the books with the actual bank transaction can show whether the money reached the intended recipient.
