Ex-Humane Society director accused of embezzlement back in El Dorado County

Nicola "Niki" Congero, the former Lake Tahoe Humane Society (LTHS) executive director accused of embezzlement, is now sitting in the El Dorado County Jail in Placerville.

On Sunday, August 19, 2018, the El Dorado County Sheriff's extradition team returned from Knoxville, Tennessee with Congero. She is accused of using the LTHS debit card on personal things such gambling, rental furniture for her home, dentist bills, family cell phones, repairs to family members vehicles, and numerous point of sale purchases with cash back at casinos, just to name a few.

On July 27, 2018 the El Dorado County District Attorney’s office obtained a warrant for Congero’s arrest and South Lake Tahoe Police Department (SLTPD) detectives went to Knoxville on August 1 to arrest her. Since that date Congero has been in the Tennessee jail and had one court hearing where she waived extradition.

The 50-year-old is being held on $200,000 bail.

Congero was let go by the LTHS board on March 14, 2017 who then reported the alleged embezzling crime to the police department.

SLTPD turned in their completed report to the District Attorney's Office at the end of 2017. The DA's office has investigated for the last seven months. They had to obtain bank records, casino surveillance tapes and all other required documents.

As of Monday morning, there is no El Dorado County court date scheduled. She is also expected to be transferred to South Lake Tahoe.