SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, California (KOLO) – Former South Lake Tahoe Mayor Tamara Wallace has been indicted on a single charge of wire fraud.
Wallace was charged by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California on Tuesday.
The federal charge stems from allegations that, from around April 2019 to September 2025, while working as a bookkeeper for Lake Tahoe Presbyterian Church, Wallace embezzled about $390,000 through checks made out to herself and unauthorized electronic transfers.
The investigation into Wallace began in 2025 after she released an open letter admitting to embezzling funds from her employer and attempting to commit suicide.
Wallace now faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
The El Dorado County DA’s Office said California’s lenient sentencing laws would likely have permitted very little prison time, or around a year at most, despite the nature of the…
Insurance fraud involves making false or exaggerated claims to an insurance provider.
- Hard Fraud: Someone deliberately causes a loss (e.g., setting fire to a warehouse or staging a car accident) specifically to collect a payout.
- Soft Fraud: More common and often viewed as “victimless” by the perpetrator. It involves exaggerating a legitimate claim, such as overstating the value of stolen items in a home burglary to cover the deductible.