Interior Designer of Many Names Charged with Comp Fraud

Monday, December 23, 2019 | 0

Even interior designers, including those accused of stealing homeowners' money, need workers' compensation insurance, Florida prosecutors said this week.

A Sarasota woman who has worked under a number of aliases was arrested this week and charged with theft, unlicensed contracting and workers compensation fraud after condominium owners complained that she had absconded with payments, according to a local news report.

Janis Ann Roux, 58, was being held without bail at the Pinellas County Jail, authorities said.

The alleged fraud began in early 2017, when an Illinois couple that owns a condominium in Clearwater met Roux through Thumbtack, an online and app-based service that connects customers with skilled contractors. The couple said they paid Roux $107,000 to remodel the condo, but the work wasn't done.

An investigation by the Florida Department of Financial Services reportedly found that Roux was unlicensed and did not carry comp insurance. Then, a St. Petersburg woman charged that a woman by the name of Ann West was paid $23,000 but never completed remodeling work.

It turns out that West and Roux are the same, investigators said. She also went by the name of Janis Bulli and was on probation for a previous fraud conviction.

A public defender has been appointed to defend Roux.