Lauren Piasecki, a 44-year-old interior designer from Pittsburgh’s Morningside neighborhood, is facing multiple charges for allegedly defrauding clients out of nearly $500,000. Piasecki, the lead designer and founding partner of Black Cherry Designs, has been accused of scamming victims through her business, which operated on Butler Street in Lawrenceville. The Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office announced the charges on Monday, which include theft by unlawful taking, home improvement fraud, receiving stolen property, and deceptive business practices.
The accusations stem from eight separate cases involving clients from various Pittsburgh areas. In one case, a Fox Chapel client was allegedly swindled out of approximately $170,000. According to the criminal complaint, the client agreed to pay Black Cherry Design over $5,000 for 102 billable hours of work in January 2023.
However, Piasecki sent the woman 12 invoices from July through December, totaling $170,226. Despite the woman writing multiple checks to Piasecki, only $1,300 worth of bathroom tiles and a $4,600 carpet were provided, with Piasecki claiming to keep the latter in a Verona storage unit.
Designer defrauds Pittsburgh clients
Another case involves a Mt. Lebanon couple who were allegedly charged about $13,000 in June and July 2023 for furniture and rugs that were never delivered. The couple’s last communication with Piasecki was an email about wallpaper in February 2024.
Authorities discovered that Piasecki used funds from her business, Black Cherry Designs LLP, to cover personal expenses such as hotels, turnpike tolls, Uber rides, Amazon purchases, restaurants, supermarkets, and coffee shops, in addition to making numerous ATM withdrawals. The total amount of alleged stolen funds across all cases filed by the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office, Pittsburgh, and Mt. Lebanon police departments is $488,775.
Piasecki is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing before District Judge Lisa V. Caulfield on March 5.