Hamptons Designer Accused Of Stealing $480K+ From Client: DA

SOUTHAMPTON, NY — An interior designer in the Hamptons was arrested and charged with stealing more than $480,000 from a client, Suffolk County District Attorney Tim Sini said.

Sean M. Bruns, 43, of Southampton, was arrested and charged with second degree grand larceny, a felony; two counts of second degree possession of a forged instrument, a felony; and two counts of first degree falsifying business records, a felony, Sini said.

His company, Old Town Crossing, was also charged with second degree grand larceny, Sini said.

Bruns was arraigned on the charges Thursday in Southampton Village Justice Court and was released on his own recognizance, Sini said.

On July 31, 2017, Bruns entered into an agreement with a female client from Shelter Island for interior design and decoration work at a house she owns in Florida, Sini said.

The agreement stated that the client would pay Bruns and OTC the price of all home furnishings plus a markup fee of 30 percent, Sini said. On July 11, 2018, following receipt of an itemized list of furniture selections, the client paid Bruns and OTC $593,919 to purchase the home furnishings, Sini said.

In August 2018, after expressing dissatisfaction with the progress of the project and having not received any of the furnishings, the client terminated the agreement and requested delivery of any furniture that had been purchased, as well as an accounting and refund of any additional funds, Sini said.

Bruns and OTC provided the client with forged and fraudulent invoices and receipts purported to be from the furniture vendors showing that payment for the furniture had been received, Sini said.

The DA's office obtained copies of the invoices from the vendors and found inconsistencies between those documents and the ones provided to the client by Bruns, Sini said.

The client was able to recuperate $104,462.19 from furniture vendors that had received partial payment from Bruns and OTC, resulting in an outstanding balance of $489,456.81 paid to Bruns and OTC for which the client did not receive furniture or a refund, Sini said.

John Kern, Remsenburg attorney for Bruns and Old Town Crossing, commented: "I deny all charges and any wrongdoing on behalf of my client. There is also a civil suit pending which states upon information and belief that my client is owed money from this alleged victim for design services rendered that the alleged victim did not pay. The release presented by the district attorney’s office presents this as a one invoice job."

Kern added: "This was a one-and-a-half year, eight invoice project for a 15,000 square foot, five building compound. Old Town Crossing was the second designer given the project after the first bowed out, and the project is now with a third designer. There are two sides to every story. Unlike the district attorney’s office, we will not be trying this case in the press. This is a client / vendor disagreement, nothing more nothing less. Mr. Bruns and Old Town Crossing are respected 40-year fixtures of the Southampton Village business, design, and retail community. My client looks forward to resolving this and putting it behind him as soon as is possible."

Bruns is due back in court on November 10, Sini said. OTC will be arraigned on November 10, Sini said.

If convicted of the top count, Bruns faces a maximum sentence of five to 15 years in prison, Sini said.

“Not only did Mr. Bruns and his company not deliver on services promised to their client, but they took this alleged scheme a step further by providing the client with over a dozen forged documents to make it seem like the work had been done,” Sini said. “Through this investigation, we were able to uncover their alleged fraudulent actions and the theft of hundreds of thousands of dollars from this victim. We are asking anyone else who believes he or she has been a victim of this scheme to please contact my Office.”

Sini urges anyone who believes they were also a victim of Bruns to call the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office’s financial investigations and money laundering bureau at 631-853-4232 or email InfoDA@suffolkcounty.gov.