SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – On June 1, 2023, South Lake Tahoe PD was contacted by a local family-owned construction company after discovering one of their employees had been embezzling money from the business. The company identified their employee as Kami Power of Gardnerville, Nev. South Lake Tahoe PD Officer Neumann began the investigation, which was later forwarded to South Lake Tahoe PD Detective Webber.
Detective Webber began his investigation and learned the initial reported stolen money found by the construction company was only the tip of iceberg. Detective Webber’s investigation quickly grew to a large scale, multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional collaborative effort. Over the course of the investigation, over $1.4 million was found to have been embezzled by Power between November 2019 and May 2023. During that time frame, Power used the embezzled money to purchase two houses, several new cars, ATVs, a horse, and a $29,000 Hawaii vacation.
Ultimately, the case was picked up by the U.S. Department of Justice, who issued an arrest warrant for Power. Power was arrested and transferred to Sacramento in federal custody. On Wednesday, November 19, 2025, Power was found guilty of 11 counts of wire fraud, three counts of bank fraud and three counts of aggravated identity theft. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elliot Wong and Dhruv Sharma.
According to the press release issued by the DOJ, Power is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Coggins on Feb. 27, 2026. Power faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count of wire fraud, 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine for each count of bank fraud, and a mandatory two-year sentence on each count of aggravated identity theft. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.
South Lake Tahoe Police Department would like to thank Officer Neumann, Detective Webber, the El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office, Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for all their work on this case.
