PORTLAND, Ore. — A former Wells Fargo employee is accused of stealing more than $26,000 from a deceased elderly Gresham woman’s bank account in the months before and after her death, according to an indictment unsealed this week in Multnomah County.
Brittany Monique McLaughlin, 31, was indicted on 20 counts including aggravated theft, aggravated identity theft, first-degree theft and identity theft. Prosecutors say she siphoned money from the account of Bernadette Richardson between January and June 2023.
Richardson was in her 90s when she passed away in March 2023. Her niece, Leah Dieringer, said it was only after her aunt’s death that her father, Richardson’s brother, began sorting through her finances and noticed suspicious withdrawals…