Homes, jewels and designer bags: Califronia woman admits embezzling $2.8 million

A Huntington Beach woman pleaded guilty to 10 felonies on Thursday, Oct. 2 for embezzling over $2.8 million from her employer, an instant noodle manufacturer where she worked as an account manager for over a decade.

As an account manager, Tae Miyaji Jones, 50, had access to the Garden Grove-based company’s financial systems, corporate accounts, records and had the authority to sign checks. Over a nearly six-year period from Dec. 2017 to July 2023, Jones transferred money from the company’s accounts into her own, totaling more than $2.8 million, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. She had worked as an account manager from 2010 until her termination in 2023.

Jones pleaded guilty to seven counts of mail fraud and three counts of wire fraud. She is currently out on bond and scheduled to be sentenced on April 2, 2026, when she will face a maximum sentence of 20 years for each count.

Jones used the stolen money to finance home mortgages, jewelry, car loans and her own credit card expenses. She purchased homes in Madison, Alabama and Waikoloa, Hawaii and various luxury goods, including Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Burberry bags and Tiffany & Co. jewelry, which she will forfeit, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement.

To hide the embezzlement, Jones falsified records. She mailed company checks, sending and depositing them into her own bank accounts and sometimes transferred money by wire, prosecutors said.

In one instance, they said, Jones mailed a check for over $40,000 from the company’s account to be put towards her personal credit card’s balance and recorded it as a payment for material costs to a vendor.