Newberg, Oregon: Bookkeeper Arrested, Accused of Embezzling $1.1 Million From Golf Course Builder

A Sherwood bookkeeper was arrested at her home on Thursday and accused of embezzling more than $1.1 million from the Newberg construction company that employed her, the Yamhill County Sheriff's Office said.

Lauri Lynn O'Connor, 65, was indicted on 17 counts of first degree aggravated theft and falsifying business records for her work at Milroy Golf Systems, a Newberg company that builds golf courses and irrigation systems. She was lodged in the Yamhill County Correctional Facility with bail set at $100,000, according to the sheriff's office and court records reported by the Statesman Journal.

How the case surfaced

Milroy hired O'Connor in 2019 and fired her in 2025, the Statesman Journal reported from court records. She had access to the company's financial software, physical checks, payroll system, credit card information, account information and employee personal information while she worked there.

When Milroy hired a new bookkeeper in September 2025, the new bookkeeper found suspicious, unexplained transactions and unauthorized checks written to O'Connor, court records show. The company then hired Morones Analytics, a Portland forensic accounting firm, to investigate its records.

Morones contacted the sheriff's office in July after finding substantial evidence that O'Connor had been embezzling company funds, police said. Investigators allege the scheme ran from 2018 to 2025 and included creating false invoices, falsifying QuickBooks entries, making unauthorized employee draws and forging company checks before depositing them into her personal account, according to the sheriff's release quoted by the Newberg Graphic.

In late October, investigators from the sheriff's street crimes and narcotics team, working with Morones, presented the case to a Yamhill County grand jury, which indicted O'Connor. Detectives arrested her at her Sherwood residence on Nov. 5.

A separate lawsuit and a wider warning

Milroy Golf Systems filed a lawsuit in December 2025 alleging O'Connor embezzled $829,254, the Statesman Journal reported. The company alleges in the lawsuit that she used the money for payments or improvements on her home in Sherwood.

O'Connor presented herself online as a professional bookkeeper, QuickBooks ProAdvisor, Oregon notary public and licensed tax preparer, operating under the business name LLO Bookkeeping and Payroll Inc., the sheriff's office said. That client work is why investigators are asking others to come forward.

The sheriff's office encourages anyone who previously worked with or employed O'Connor and believes they may have been a victim to contact their local law enforcement agency. Yamhill County residents and businesses can contact Detective Sergeant Jacob Herr by email or call Yamhill County nonemergency dispatch at 503-434-6500.

The charges are allegations. O'Connor is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court, and no trial outcome has been reported.