COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho — Progress is being made in the fraud and theft cases against a North Idaho woman and her two daughters who are accused of stealing from a non-profit.
On October 31, Laurcene "Lori" Isenberg, 64, was indicted on charges of wire fraud, federal program theft and fraud forfeiture. A motion for detention was filed by the U.S. Attorney for Idaho. This means they have asked the judge to put Isenberg in jail until her trial.
She could face up to 20 years in prison for wire fraud and up to 10 years for the federal program theft charges.
Isenberg is accused of stealing about $500,000 from a North Idaho nonprofit. She was the executive director at North Idaho Housing Coalition, which works with low-income families.
Isenberg allegedly forged checks, opened companies to launder money, overcharged tenants and purchased personal items with an unauthorized company credit card and opened accounts in her husband and daughters’ names.
In 2017, the nonprofit also hired her daughter, April Hosking, to provide data entry assistance. She was paid $15 per hour.
In January 2018, an accountant found checks with board members’ names forged on them. After several forged checks were found, Isenberg was placed on administrative leave. She and her daughter were later fired.
Mysterious circumstances also surround the death of Isenberg's husband, Larry.
Larry went missing on Lake Coeur d’Alene on February 13, 2018.
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.
Larry Isenberg's body was located on March 1. Isenberg is not facing any charges in Larry’s death and has not been named a suspect.
Her daughters, Jessica Barnes and Amber Hosking, were under investigation for conspiracy to commit theft and conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree.
Hoskings entered a plea agreement on August 18. Court documents show she pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit federal program theft. The charge is punishable by five years in prison.
Documents said Hoskings received and accepted a total of $16,500 in payments from the North Idaho Housing Coalition to which she was not entitled to.
Hoskings is set to be sentenced on January 29, 2019.
Barnes also pleaded guilty in federal court, according to a staff member at the federal court house in Coeur d'Alene, but the details are not yet available.
