MANHATTAN (CN) - David's Bridal accuses a Manhattan marketing head of overbilling it and living large with steak dinners and tropical vacations on the company's dime.
The wedding-dress retailer lodged the claims in a June 16 complaint against Mikyung Jin aka Mika Dalton, a Manhattanite it says used to run its marketing and creative department.
The position authorized Dalton to hire and pay the outside production companies that helped with David's Bridal photo shoots, according to the complaint in Manhattan Supreme Court.
Between 2004 and 2013, Dalton allegedly retained two companies owned by her husband, who is not a party to the complaint, to perform such production work.
David's Bridal says Dalton submitted payment invoices of more than $3.25 million for those companies' supposed services.
"In reality, neither [company] ... ever performed the production work billed to David's Bridal," the complaint states.
David's Bridal says Dalton also used her company-issued credit card to pay for personal items for herself and her husband, including three "designer Ferrari office chairs" for $64,000, visits to nightclubs and steakhouses in Philadelphia, and a family vacation to Puerto Rico.
No one was the wiser until a David's Bridal employee spotted the hefty charges for the office chairs while reviewing Dalton's credit card activity, the lawsuit says.
When the employee contacted the manufacturer of that furniture, nonparty Racechairs LLC, it learned that Dalton had "drafted fraudulent invoices to support the charges," characterizing the chairs as props to be used at photo shoots in Miami and New York City, David's Bridal says.
"None of the props noted in the fraudulent invoices, nor the Ferrari office chairs, were used at any photo shoot for David's Bridal or for any other legitimate business purpose," the complaint states.
David's Bridal says Dalton also had a freelance photographer inflate an otherwise legitimate invoice after she could only partially repay him for an $11,000 personal loan.
By virtue of those fraudulent acts, Dalton "stole in excess of $3,000,000 from David's Bridal," the complaint states.
David's Bridal wants damages of $3.4 million for fraud, unjust enrichment and other claims.
Based in Conshohocken, Pa., the company is represented by Scott Levin of McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter.
Subscribe to Closing Arguments
Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.