MoVal trio charged with perpetrating estate fraud, stealing funds
RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KESQ) - Three Moreno Valley residents accused of ripping off seniors in an estate fraud scheme, stealing thousands of dollars, were charged today with forgery, grand theft and multiple other offenses.
Darnell Thompson, 73, Danielle Thompson, 22, and Nakethia Jacquin Taylor, 53, were arrested earlier this week following a Riverside County Sheriff's Department investigation that began almost two years ago.
Darnell Thompson is charged with nearly two dozen felony counts, including attempted murder, conspiracy, forgery, grand theft, money laundering, as well as a sentence-enhancing white-collar crime allegation.
Thompson pleaded not guilty during a solo arraignment Thursday before Superior Court Judge Gary Polk, who scheduled a felony settlement conference for Oct. 26 at the Riverside Hall of Justice.
The defendant is being held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Byrd Detention Center.
His two co-defendants, Danielle Thompson and Taylor, both posted bonds of $20,000 to $30,000 and were released from custody just prior to their scheduled arraignment alongside Darnell Thompson.
Danielle Thompson is charged with money laundering, and Taylor is charged with four counts of forgery and one count of perjury. Thompson is slated to be arraigned on Nov. 25, and Taylor on Nov. 30, at the Riverside Hall of Justice.
The trio came under investigation in the months following the 2024 arrest of 53-year-old Lester Earl Watkins of Moreno Valley. He's charged with attempted murder and a sentence-enhancing allegation of using a deadly weapon in the commission of a felony.
Sheriff's Sgt. James Merrill alleged that on Dec. 8, 2024, the defendant attacked a Moreno Valley senior at a residence in the 27000 block of Shorrie Lake Drive in Moreno Valley. The elderly man suffered unspecified injuries and alleged to deputies dispatched to the location that Watkins had tried to kill him, Merrill said.
A possible motive wasn't revealed.
Watkins was tracked down and arrested without incident on Dec. 16, 2024.
Detectives ultimately uncovered evidence that he was allegedly involved in a real estate theft scam, conspiring with his co-defendants, targeting at least five seniors, more than one of whom has since died -- evidently of natural causes, according to sheriff's officials.
The alleged thefts netted thousands of dollars, though the precise amount wasn't disclosed.
After amassing sufficient evidence, detectives obtained and served search warrants on Darnell Thompson, Danielle Thompson and Taylor on Tuesday, when they were booked into custody.
The four defendants have no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County, though possible misdemeanor convictions couldn't be confirmed.
