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Laura Bee, age 59, of Lake Grove, pleaded guilty to one count of grand larceny in Suffolk County Court on Tuesday, Jan. 16 after stealing from clients of Ever Love Jewelers in Huntington.
Prosecutors said Bee offered to help her friends sell various jewelry items – valued at nearly $31,000 – and took possession of the pieces between September 2019 and June 2022.
She admitted that instead of selling the jewelry, she kept the items despite repeated demands from her friends to return them.
Between October 2020 and August 2022, Bee also duped unsuspecting customers into buying diamond engagement rings that they believed were made with natural diamonds, according to investigators.
However, when the customers had their rings appraised, they learned the stones were lab grown diamonds and worth significantly less than the natural diamonds they paid for.
Bee managed to steal approximately $47,000 from couples using the scheme, an investigation found.
Not even her friends were safe from being swindled. Prosecutors highlighted one instance in which Bee agreed to repair a friend’s broken diamond engagement ring – valued at nearly $15,000 – only to return it with a lab grown stone worth roughly $2,000.
Investigators determined that Bee also stole nearly $50,000 from other jewelers who sold her jewelry between June and December 2022.
Throughout that time, she also issued six bad checks from the Ever Love Jewelry bank account knowing there weren’t enough funds to cover them, prosecutors said.
“Over almost three years, this defendant used her position as the manager of a jewelry store to scam her friends and unsuspecting customers,” said Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney.
“This defendant took advantage of her position for personal gain, and my office will continue to prosecute professionals who steal from their customers.”
As part of her plea agreement, Bee is expected to make full restitution.
She is due back in court for sentencing on Monday, March 25.
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