Lasell University student charged with stealing nearly $1 million in credit card scam released on bail
WOBURN - Ariel Foster, the 19-year-old Lasell University student accused of stealing nearly $1 million in a credit card scam, pleaded not guilty Friday.
Foster was arraigned on a larceny charge in Woburn District Court and released on $1,000 bail.
Investigators initially said she refunded a total of $547,187 in eight transactions at her job at Lovisa, a jewelry store in the Burlington Mall, last month. Burlington police said the transactions were fake and that she marked items up in price, returned them for the original price and put the difference on her credit card.
Authorities said she then spent $5,000 on a Louis Vuitton purse, almost $6,000 on Delta Air Lines tickets and $20,000 for a hotel in Maui, Hawaii.
She then bought a Tesla for more than $35,000, police said.
During her arraignment Friday, the prosecutor revealed new information, saying Foster tampered with the security cameras in the store. When investigators started digging more, the prosecutor said they found the fraud happened on even more dates than they originally thought, so what started as a half-a-million dollar larceny accusation nearly doubled to almost $1 million.
Police told WBZ-TV Thursday that Foster got loose with her work and rang up an order for $1 million, but never cleared it out. A co-worker saw the amount and notified police.
Officers searched Foster's home in Boston and her dorm room at Lasell in Newton Wednesday. She was arrested on campus and later set free on bail. Police seized the Tesla. It's not clear yet how much of the money they will be able to recover. Investigators said customers were never involved and Foster acted alone.
According to court documents, Foster eventually admitted the scam in an interview with investigators and apologized. Lasell Police disclosed to Burlington Police that she had been the subject of investigations into similar credit card fraud to pay tuition, the documents stated.
The judge ordered Foster to stay away from the store, the mall and all employees at Lovisa.
Foster, who runs track at Lasell, is charged with larceny over $1,200. If found guilty she could spend up to five years in state prison.
She's due back in court for a pre-trial hearing on May 5.