Two women related to a former Austin Energy employee accused of routing nearly $1 million to fake vendors have also been indicted in Travis County, expanding a criminal case first brought against former city employee Mark Ybarra.
Ambrosia Ybarra, Mark Ybarra’s wife, and Yolanda Aldaco were indicted Aug. 28 on second-degree felony theft charges, according to Travis County court records. Both women stand accused of stealing between $150,000 and $300,000 from the utility between 2018 and 2023.
The American-Statesman previously reported that a Travis County grand jury indicted Mark Ybarra in August on first-degree felony theft charges after Austin Energy discovered that he had used his city-issued credit card to make fraudulent payments to fake vendors backed by falsified records.
A subsequent city auditors report released said that some vendors had contact information tied to Ybarra and his relatives. The report also said that Ybarra’s wife, a former employee of the city’s Watershed Protection Department, refused to cooperate with Austin Energy’s internal investigation.
Court records show Ambrosia Ybarra is accused of theft from about Dec. 15, 2018, to Aug. 24, 2023, while Aldaco is accused of theft from about Feb. 15, 2018, to Aug. 24, 2023.
A pre-trial hearing for Ambrosia Ybarra is scheduled for June 9. Mark Ybarra and Aldaco are scheduled for pre-trial hearings on June 30. All three defendants have been released from custody, jail records show.
Attorneys for Mark Ybarra and Aldaco did not respond to requests for comment. Ambrosia Ybarra’s attorney, Alfonso Hernandez, declined to comment.
The Travis County District Attorney’s office declined to comment, citing the ongoing case.
Austin Energy spokesperson Matt Mitchell said the utility had no comment on the latest developments.
Austin Energy General Manager Stuart Reilly previously told the Statesman that the utility took immediate steps to address the situation, including cooperating with investigations by the city auditor’s office and Austin police, reinforcing purchasing procedures and updating internal processes to prevent future misconduct.
The incident prompted the city auditor’s office to launch a larger review of purchasing card charges, which it had expected to finish early this year. The office on Monday did not immediately returns phone calls requesting an update on that review.