SAN FRANCISCO — Authorities have charged two East Bay women with more than a dozen felonies in an extensive workers’ compensation fraud scheme that netted more than half a million dollars.

Adela Delores Belfrey, 52, a claims adjuster at AmTrust North America, and Catherine Gregoire, 52, an ex-employee of the same firm, were taken into custody Thursday, authorities said.

San Francisco District Attorney’s Office investigators arrested them on suspicion of carrying out a scheme to deposit about $528,000 of company funds into bank accounts controlled by Gregoire. She reportedly created multiple shell companies to facilitate the fraud, then submitted claims to Belfrey for approval.

Authorities allege that Gregoire paid nearly $135,000 in cash for a 2014 Mercedes G550 sport-utility vehicle with funds received illegally from AmTrust North America, a San Francisco firm that provides small businesses with liability insurance.

Investigators seized the vehicle this week, according to the District Attorney’s Office. Belfrey was arrested at her office in Pleasanton; Gregoire was arrested as she disembarked a plane from Los Angeles at Oakland International Airport.

Belfrey, of Oakland, and Gregoire, of Hercules, have been charged with insurance fraud, false and fraudulent claims, claims adjuster fraud, grand theft by false pretenses, forgery and money laundering. Belfrey also was charged with two counts of identity theft.

Belfrey is being held in custody on $325,000 bail and is expected to be arraigned on Tuesday. Officials did not say if Gregoire was still in custody.

Contact Chris De Benedetti at 510-293-2480. Follow him at Twitter.com/cdebenedetti.