Florist cheated customers, DA says
SAN JOSE >> The owner of a flower shop has been charged with cheating customers out of more than $26,000 after not providing flower arrangements and other services for special occasions, even after customers had paid, according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office.
Jasmin Rivera, 37, owner of Gigi’s Florist, has been charged with six counts of grand theft and two unrelated fraud felony charges, the DA’s office said Friday.
One family took out loans to pay Rivera about $10,000 for their daughter’s quinceañera — a comingof-age ceremony in Latin American countries when a girl turns 15 — for which they ordered a DJ, limousine and other services. But when the party was canceled, the family didn’t get their money back, authorities said.
“Take me to court,” Rivera told them, according to the DA’s office.
Last year, a bride hired Rivera to provide church flowers and table and chair decorations for her wedding, for which she paid Rivera an estimated $8,000, according to the DA’s office. But nothing was delivered on the day of the wedding, and the victim was refunded only $400, the DA’s office said.
“Families often trust and depend on professionals to make their weddings and quinceañeras memorable,” Deputy District Attorney Garner Morris said in a statement. “The District Attorney’s Office will hold accountable those who take criminal advantage of people who are spending hardearned or borrowed money to celebrate these once-ina-lifetime events.”
A telephone number listed for Gigi’s Florist on North White Road has been disconnected, and some former clients said online that the business has closed.
People with further information on the case are being asked to call investigator Christine Macias at 408-792-2822.