Associated Press
The head of a Florida-based charity misappropriated money that was meant to buy cradles for stillborn babies to help grieving families, authorities said Thursday.
Lori Marie Esteve, 53, was arrested earlier this week in Lakeland and charged with scheming to defraud and three other felonies, according to a Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services news release.
“The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services has zero tolerance for sham charities perpetrating fraud against its donors,” Agricultural Commissioner Nikki Fried said in a statement. “Stealing the money of parents grieving the loss of a child is a vile and appalling act.”
Esteve serves as president and director of Stories of Babies Born Still. SOBBS was supposed to use donations to purchase Comfort Cradle Devices for hospitals, investigators said. Investigators found that deposits and full payments had been given to SOBBS, but the manufacturer hadn’t received payment for about half the orders.
Esteve was free on $8,000 bond. Jail records didn’t list an attorney.
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Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
One comment
Donna Lee Avera Hunter
June 5, 2020 at 4:41 pm
STILLBORN BABIES AND DEVASTATED FAMILIES
In my opinion NOTHING could be more devastating than to lose a precious well anticipated baby. This type of heart breaking devastation is not limited to the Mother and the Father, it effects family and friends as well! Being the leader of the Stillborn Charity, Ms. Esteve above anyone else is all to well aware of the deep emotional devastation of delivering a stillborn baby and what this brings to the parents, to and including single Mothers, adopting parents or adopting single parent. As I see it Ms. Esteve single handedly added even more stress, and over burden extremely raw emotions people are dealing with, as they feel their ‘Emotion Plate’ is loaded with more than they can handle at that point in time. For this woman to steal the money that would be used to bring much needed comfort to the greving Mothers/Fathers/Family and Friend is against the law period! Did Ms. Esteve need the money.she stole? In all likely hood no, she was in my opinion using the money to pay her Bill’s, buying food, and spending some of the money on to finance big ticket items, so she did not have to put out her own money to pay Bill’s, buy food
and such Has this woman apologized for what she did? I don’t think she has done so. Ms. Esteve is the lowest of the low! Ms. Esteve should be made to admit, her crime, and she should be sentenced to the maximum years fitting her crime! But watch and see, she more than likely will have to pay the money, and court cost back over time. Her bond was set at $ 8,000. Of which she more than likely would have had to come up with $800.00 to bond out the jail. I for serious hope and pray she gets throw in prison and is placed in ‘General Population’. In that part of the prison, any crime done against children will get her ass beat up on a regular basis, if she aint murdered and her death is made to look like a accident first! I have zero tolerance for women or men who do any crime involving a child, living or dead!
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