Owner of Pittsburgh interior design business charged with scamming clients out of over $400K

The owner of an interior design business is facing charges after investigators said she took more than $400,000 from several clients across the Pittsburgh area and never completed the work. 

Forty-four-year-old Lauren Piasecki of Pittsburgh's Morningside neighborhood, the owner of Black Cherry Designs, is facing a slew of charges, including home improvement fraud, unlawful taking and deceptive business practices, the Allegheny County District Attorney announced on Monday. 

Dozens of pages of court paperwork detail the accusations against Piasecki. In one case out of Fox Chapel, investigators said Piasecki took over $160,000 for services and products that were never delivered, instead spending the victim's money on personal expenses like hotels, liquor stores, Amazon purchases and hundreds of ATM withdrawals.

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