Former treasurer charged with embezzling from local nonprofit group

RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- The former treasurer of a local nonprofit group has been charged with embezzling about $85,000 from the organization's bank accounts.

Deron Edward Lane, 44, is accused of stealing about 75 percent of the funds belonging to the Chaffey Communities Cultural Center, which manages the Cooper Regional History Museum in Upland and stages local events.

The group's president, Dave Stevens, said today that Lane has since repaid the money, which he allegedly stole between May 2009 and November last year.

"(Lane) just said that he was sorry that he did that," Stevens said. "He was about to lose his house, and so he started taking money."

Lane, of Upland, became involved in the organization about four years ago while seeking information about his home in the 200 block of South Euclid Avenue, Stevens said.

Lane later joined the group's board of directors, and in 2008 he took over duties as treasurer, which Stevens said is a volunteer position.

Stevens said he discovered Lane's alleged embezzlement late last year when the organization's liability insurer contacted him about a payment that was soon due.

Stevens said he checked the organization's bank statements online and found the account largely depleted.

"When I first saw that I thought we were going to be closed down," Stevens said.

The San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office charged Lane on Feb. 25 with two felonies: embezzlement by a public or private officer and grand theft.

Lane, who is free on $200,000 bail, has pleaded not guilty to the charges and is next due April 19 in West Valley Superior Court.

Lane declined to comment today when reached at his home. He referred a reporter to his attorney, Eric J. Youngquist, who did not return a call seeking comment.

According to a police report contained in Lane's court file, Lane embezzled from the organization by issuing checks to his spouse from the group's account.

When confronted with bank records by police, Lane said he was paid by the organization for acting as its property manager -- a claim that Stevens denied.

Lane also allegedly failed to notify the organization's board of directors of the payments in periodic updates about the group's finances, according to the police report.

Stevens and others suspect that the money Lane repaid to the Chaffey Community Cultural Center may have come from funds he inherited from a recently deceased member of the organization.

Lola Lowe, 61, died Dec. 24 at Lane's home, where she was receiving hospice care the last two weeks of her life.

She knew Lane through her volunteer work with the Chaffey Community Cultural Center, and grew fond of him, said Lowe's long-term boyfriend, Blackie Taylor, who lived with Lowe in Rancho Cucamonga the last 21 years of her life.

Lowe granted Lane power of attorney and named him executor of her estate, according to Taylor and the police report. According to Taylor, Lane has since emptied two bank accounts left by Lowe.

He said one of the accounts was supposed to cover his mortgage and living expenses, and the other was left for his grandchildren to attend college.

"She gave him power of attorney to handle a bunch of things, and when she died on Christmas Eve, I guess shortly he ripped off a couple of her accounts," Taylor said.

Taylor, who called Lane "the biggest thief in history," said he believes Lane should be charged criminally for his handling of Lowe's estate.

Sam Crowe, an attorney hired by the Chaffey Community Cultural Center to recover funds from Lane, said today that he doesn't know where Lane came up with the money to repay the organization.

But in statements to police, Crowe indicated Lane's funds may have come from an unidentified inheritance, according to the police report.

"I re-contacted Mr. Crowe," Detective Anthony Wilson wrote in the report. "He indicated that since I had last spoken with him, suspect Lane had received monies from an inheritance and has paid the (organization) $100,000 to replace the monies he had taken."