More charges have been added for Danielle Matherne Gaspard, the owner of Mandeville-area interior design company Belissimo Interior Design Build. These latest charges bring the total fraud and theft accusations in St. Tammany Parish to $231,613.63. Gaspard has similar pending charges in Lafourche Parish and St. Charles Parish.
In February 2020, St. Tammany Parish Financial Crimes Investigators arrested Gaspard for six counts of felony theft. Numerous residents reported they had paid her money to complete jobs which were either not started or not completed. (Click here for previous related story) Over the next nine months, investigators conducted a thorough investigation into additional claims of contractor fraud conducted by Gaspard and her business. From these complaints, investigators were able to obtain additional arrest warrants for Gaspard.
Gaspard was arrested on Friday (November 13, 2020) on 1 count of Forgery of Certificate of Insurance (felony), 2 counts of Contractor Misappropriations of Payments Over $1,000 (felony), 2 counts of Residential Contractor Fraud Between $5,000 to $25,000 (felony), and 2 counts of Residential Contractor Fraud Over $25,000 (felony). That is spread across 12 victims. Two additional victims who filed reports were able to get refunded via credit card charge back, and three other victims’ cases were deemed to be civil matters.
She remains incarcerated in the St. Tammany Parish Jail with bond set at $700,000.00.
“It is unfortunate that this individual used her business to take advantage of residents,” Sheriff Randy Smith said. “I applaud the work of our detectives who fielded numerous complaints and thoroughly investigated each, resulting in these additional charges.
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