Some people’s priorities are all wrong when it comes to wedding planning and budgeting. A Florida bride was arrested for allegedly charging her $50,000 wedding to her pawn shop employer’s credit cards. La’Reese Michelle Darville, 31, was thrown in the slammer for fraud and grand theft charges on Monday, five months after she married husband Darell at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, Florida.
She allegedly only had permission to charge $10,000 as one of the pawn shop’s bosses was her father. Police began an investigation after one of the owners of Partners III Pawn Shop eceived late payment notices for a credit card the company had not used for two years. One company credit card was $10,000 over its limit and another had been charged $28,000.
Via Daily Mail UK:
The charges included payments to wedding photographers and planners and for renting the casino. Darville’s father, Leroy Felix, said he knew nothing of the charges.
When quizzed over the payments, Darville acknowledged using the cards for her wedding but blamed it on her father, who she claimed had told her to use the credit cards.
Police say the $10,000 charged on her father’s credit card occurred after he gave his permission, but Darville did not have permission to charge $39,286.24 to other accounts.
Speaking to police, she allegedly admitted to using the account 14 times for her wedding but that she intended on repaying the business in full. She said she had already paid back more than $17,000 – although she had no record of it.
Photographs taken of the big day reveal lavish touches, from rose petals lining the aisle and an arch of white flowers showcasing their wedding cake. Guests watched the ceremony in the casino’s grand ballroom before partying at a reception and dinner that ended at midnight.
La’Reese was joined by nine bridesmaids wearing pink satin dresses and matching silver shoes, while her husband and his groomsmen wore matching white suits.
Darville told the Palm Beach Post that the situation had been a huge misunderstanding.
Darville seems to believe that she didn’t have a limit on the card and claimed that she was paying the money back. Darville, who recently left the company and is now a stay at-home mother was released from the St. Lucie County Jail on $,7,500 bail.
