Interior designer Antonio DiMarco was arrested on October 10 for allegedly stealing more than a million dollars from clients to finance his own lavish lifestyle.
DiMarco, 42, is charged with money laundering, two counts of grand theft of more than $100,000, and obtaining property worth over $50,000 by fraud. He was ordered held on $400,000 bond during a court hearing Thursday.
According to the arrest report, DiMarco was paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for his interior decorating services, but two of his clients told investigators that he didn’t complete their construction projects, provide them with their custom furnishings, or give them refunds.
One of the clients, an oral surgeon in Fort Lauderdale identified as Roland Hernandez, told investigators that he paid DiMarco $700,000 for home repairs and prepaid for custom furniture that would purportedly take up to three months to be manufactured and delivered. Hernandez also allegedly lent DiMarco $250,000.
Another client, an unidentified woman in Bal Harbour, told investigators that she paid DiMarco $440,000 for decorations, furniture, carpeting, tile work, and painting. She reportedly shopped with DiMarco at design centers and paid him for furniture that cost up to $30,000 per purchase. The only services she received was the re-framing of her artwork for $8,000 and the re-tiling of her foyer for around $45,000.
Both clients told investigators that the work they paid DiMarco to complete was not finished after more than a year and the interior designer refused to give them refunds.
An analysis of DiMarco’s bank account revealed that over $1 million was stolen and spent on clothing, entertainment, daily living costs, and other expenses, the report said. The expenses included charges of $156,620 for clothing and accessories from Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Versace, Chanel, and other stores; $45,652 spent at Walgreens, CVS, Publix, Apple iTunes, and utilities; and $21,542 spent at restaurants.
Also listed in the report were expenses of $15,876 for movies, bowling, and tickets to attractions; $15,732 for spa and nail salon treatments; and $274,268 for a hot tub, back loans, a wedding gift, and real estate escrow payments.
Another grand theft case was reported in Miami last week. Antwoine Shane Brown of Miami was arrested for allegedly taking fraudulent payment from six people on Craigslist for heavy equipment he never delivered.
Brown, 24, is charged with grand theft, money laundering, defrauding a financial institution, and other charges. He was ordered held on $145,000 bond at Broward County Jail. Attorney information was not available.
According to the arrest report, Brown posted fake ads selling heavy equipment on Craigslist and scammed a total of $88,000 from six different people. The money was purportedly wired to Brown’s bank account between July and August 2018. He allegedly used the money to pay his rent and other living expenses.
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Source: 10.12.18 Decorator steals $1 million-plus from wealthy South Florida clients, cops say.pdf