Interior Designer Convicted of Fraud

A Pomona Superior Court jury has convicted a Chino Hills interior designer on 14 counts of embezzling thousands of dollars from her customers and writing bad checks.

Floriza Cadiente Navarette, 44, was found guilty Thursday of bilking 10 customers out of an estimated $60,000 that she received as payments for new drapes, furniture, upholstery and accessories, most of which were never delivered.

Throughout her trial, Navarette maintained that she kept some of the money as profit and could not account for the balance. She and her firm, Your Design Company Inc., filed in April for protection under Chapter 7 of U.S. bankruptcy laws.

Deputy Dist. Atty. James Green said Navarette defrauded her customers by using what he called a “Ponzi scheme,” in which money received from new investors or customers is used to settle previous debts.

During the trial, several customers said they had been lured by Navarette’s bargain prices and persuasive style. One couple, Amado and Eva Mandani of San Dimas, paid the designer $31,000 for furniture that was never delivered.