Known Embezzler Now Working For Asian Chamber to “Help Minority Businesses”

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Xochitl Paderes, the former District Director for ousted State Assemblymember Carlos Villapudua, is in the public eye once again. Despite being under investigation for felony embezzlement along with several other allegations, and fired from her position with the State Assembly after an investigation, Paderes is now working as a “Certifications and Government Contracting Specialist” for the California Asian Chamber of Commerce to help provide services for the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) of the U.S Department of Commerce in Sacramento.

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Not only is her recent past marred with several allegations related to business, including the City of Lathrop demanding that she cease and desist with operating a “fraudulent City of Lathrop Chamber of Commerce”, but she is also now under investigation by the Fair Political Practice Commission (FPPC) for filing fraudulent campaign finance documents for a candidate in Stockton.

She has also now been reported to the FPPC for yet another case of filing false statements for another candidate in Tracy, in which she falsely claimed the $3,000 she embezzled from business owner Motecuzoma Sanchez went to his company despite the fact that she forged her name on the checks and deposited them into her personal bank account.

We reached out the Asian Chamber, but have not received a response. This is of great public concern because business owners who are being sent to Paderes to help them may not be aware that the several allegations she’s being accused of and investigated for, involve her business dealings.

In January she also held a small business owner workshop in Stockton for the Central Valley Asian Chamber, with more planned. We reached out to Nate Knodt, the chair of the board, for a comment and he declined.

She has sued Sanchez for defamation stating the claims such as embezzlement were “knowingly false.” A judge has now determined in a tentative ruling that her own evidence, a sworn statement by Brando Villapudua, admits to her embezzlement (Slides 7-8).

This is a developing story.