COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho – Court documents are giving new details into the forgery and grand theft charges filed against a woman whose husband went missing on Lake Coeur d’Alene.
Laurcene (Lori) B. Isenberg is facing 40 charges of forgery and one charge of grand theft.
Court documents said while Isenberg was employed at as the Executive Director at North Idaho Housing Coalition, she forged checks, opened companies to launder money, overcharged tenants, purchased personal items with an unauthorized company credit card and opened accounts in her husband and daughters’ names.
NIHC board members hired a forensic accountant to oversee the accounting. According to court documents, the forensic accountant found that the organization operated from 2009 to 2015 with no problems. In the fall of 2017, the accountant had asked Isenberg for documentation for the annual accounting report. Court documents said Isenberg would not return her calls or provide her with the paperwork. Then, by January the account discovered check belonging to NIHC forged in her own name, court documents said. Isenberg was confronted about the checks and she said it was only for prompt payment to contractors, court documents said. An accountant working for NIHC said she estimates the company lost $500,000.
The next day, Isenberg was suspended from her job and was fired on January 26, court records said. NIHC then launched an internal investigation and court documents said it revealed that Isenberg had opened unauthorized credit cards under NIHC. Court documents said several charges on the credit cards were billed to fake companies and some bills had been altered.
Court records said after Isenberg was fired, NIHC requested that their laptop be returned. Isenberg was reluctant to do so and told them she was on vacation in Florida, court documents said. Isenberg said the computer had personal information, photos and documents on the computer. Court records show that once the computer was returned it was submitted for forensic analysis.
Isenberg’s husband Larry reportedly fell into Lake Coeur d’Alene on February 13. The next day, court documents said Isenberg sent an email to the members of the NIHC Board saying she needed to be “punished for what she did and she would cooperate by telling the NIHC everything after Larry’s memorial service.” She also said she would pay restitution.
Then on February 18, the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office received two reports of suspicious behavior at Isenberg’s home. Court documents said callers reported seeing people at the home moving items out of the house and they had heard Isenberg making comments about selling the home as fast as possible.
Court documents said detectives got a search warrant for Isenberg’s home on February 23. During the search, court documents said she set up two “dummy companies” to pay for her kids’ medical expenses. She said she took the money but gave it to her children. Court documents said she estimated stealing $200,000 from NIHC over a couple of years.
Court documents said after Isenberg was fired, she and her husband, Larry, went on vacation to Florida and when they got back he had gotten sick. Isenberg told detectives she believed he might have had a minor stroke and then “the accident” happened.
On February 26, detectives went to Isenberg’s home to arrest her. Court documents said her daughter came to the door and she told him her mother was not up to talking. Lori said she was “drained” and she would make an appointment to talk to the detective. She was then placed under arrest for forgery of NIHC checks and grand theft for a balance transfer of over $40,000 to her husband’s personal credit card.
A judge set Isenberg's bond at $75,000 during her first appearance hearing Tuesday. By 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, she was no longer listed as an inmate at the Kootenai County Jail.