In a scheme that could outpace a thriller, a 53-year-old former accountant stands accused of filching over $800,000 from her Richmond employer through an elaborate embezzlement gambit. Angela Fae Brown, hailing from Olivehurst, was arraigned on a bevy of felony charges in Contra Costa Superior Court, according to the Contra Costa District Attorney's Office.

As the indictment states, Brown allegedly posed as the owner of Viking Pavers, the enterprise she once balanced the books for. By creating a sham online payment account directly linked to her banking, Brown could carve herself a slice of the company's revenue pie for nearly half a decade. According to the DA’s Office, she steered the company's funds through this faux channel by producing and paying off hundreds of fraudulent invoices.

The hefty sum was funneled into Brown's account via the online payment platform, a ruse her position helped obscure. Only when a vigilant manager cottoned onto the fraud did the Richmond Police step in, unleashing their investigative chops alongside forensic financial analysts from the DA's Special Operations Unit.

Brown's arrest on April 19 has landed her behind bars at the Martinez Detention Facility with bail set at a cool two million dollars. Contra Costa District Attorney Diana Becton underscored the significance of forensic tools in recovering assets from white-collar crimes, which people like Brown go "to great lengths to conceal," she said in a statement.

The case, being prosecuted under number 02-24-00513, sees Brown facing charges including identity theft, money laundering, grand theft, false personation, and tax evasion. Moreover, Brown faces special allegations of an aggravated white-collar crime for the theft of an amount north of half a million dollars.