NEW YORK (1010 WINS/ WCBS 880 NEWS) – A Long Island jeweler pleaded guilty on Tuesday to stealing over $137,000 worth of jewelry from her customers, according to prosecutors.
Laura Bee, 59, of Lake Grove, formerly the manager of Ever Love Jewelry in Huntington Village, pleaded guilty to one count of grand larceny in the third degree.
According to her plea allocution, Bee was entrusted to sell some jewelry items worth nearly $31,000 on behalf of her friends from Sept. 27, 2019 to June 26, 2022.
When her friends requested the return of their jewelry or the proceeds from its sale, Bee allegedly kept the items.
Aside from this incident, Bee also allegedly sold multiple diamond engagement rings to customers who thought they were buying rings with natural diamonds between Oct. 7, 2020 and Aug. 19, 2022, in which she made about $47,000, according to the investigation.
Customers who had their rings appraised later found out that the stones were lab-grown diamonds, worth much less than the natural diamonds they thought they had purchased.
On Dec. 10, 2021, Bee's friend gave her a broken diamond engagement ring worth nearly $15,000 to repair. Bee allegedly returned the ring to her friend but had replaced it with a lab grown diamond, worth about $2,000.
Between June 22, 2022, and Dec. 7, 2022, Bee also allegedly stole nearly $50,000 from other jewelers by selling their jewelry. She allegedly wrote six bad checks from the Ever Love Jewelry bank account while she was aware that there weren't enough funds in the account to cover these checks, according to the investigation.
"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 A. 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 the plea agreement, Bee is expected to make full restitution.
Bee is due back in court on March 25.
