Woman Accused of Stealing Over $235,000 from Her Mom

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SANTA ANA (CNS) - A 36-year-old San Bernardino woman pleaded not guilty Thursday to stealing more than $235,000 from her mother in Laguna Niguel.

Lauren Nicole Laskey was charged in May with five counts of grand theft and five counts of identity theft, all felonies, with sentencing enhancements for aggravated white collar crime between $100,000 and $500,000. Laskey was arrested on a warrant Tuesday and arraigned Thursday in the  jail courtroom in Santa Ana.

Laskey is accused of taking $237,362.83 from her mother, a sheriff's deputy said in a motion to increase her bail in the case.

The victim received an email from her Morgan Stanley brokerage account on Nov. 25, 2019, informing her that she had insufficient funds, prompting her to follow up and finding out that numerous payments were made to a Capital One aqcount, according to deputies.

Investigators learned that the Morgan Stanley account money was sent as a payment to pay off a credit card issued to Laskey, deputies alleged. Laskey's mother said she did provide money for Laskey's living expenses in 2017, deputies said.

Eventually, the financial institutions reversed the payments and gave back the money to Laskey, who could not pay the credit card debt, deputies said.

Laskey is next due in court Aug. 19 for a hearing on her bail.


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