Salon’s bookkeeper faces fraud charges

A Newport Beach woman pleaded not guilty Friday to stealing nearly a quarter-million dollars from a local hair salon.

Bethany Jane Brady, 43, faces charges of grand theft, computer fraud and money laundering, among others, after police said she stole more than $245,000 from Hampton Salon in Newport Beach.

Prosecutors said Brady was the salon’s bookkeeper for more than 15 years, and in the last three, began siphoning money for her personal expenses.

Brady worked for an accounting firm and oversaw the Hampton Salon account. When the firm fired Brady in 2006, the salon hired her personally for $250 a month, authorities said.

Brady is accused of stealing the money between October 2006 and August of this year. Prosecutors claim she used the salon’s checking account to pay her utility bills by transferring money into her PayPal account. She used the PayPal account to pay off her credit cards and other personal expenses, officials said.

A financial audit in September revealed $245,000 was missing and soon led to Brady’s arrest.

She faces up to seven years in prison if convicted on all counts. She’s being held in Orange County Jail in lieu of $250,000 bail.

— Joseph Serna