A 79-year-old Wheat Ridge woman has been indicted on suspicion of bilking six people out of $165,000 over a four-year span.
Chiffon de Schausten, who played classical piano at Lakewood restaurants, has been indicted by a Jefferson County Grand Jury on four counts of securities fraud, four counts of theft over $20,000 or more and two counts of theft between $1,000 and $2,000, all felonies.
De Schausten was arrested Oct. 10, according to the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office. She is being held at the Jefferson County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bond.
She is accused of soliciting funds as business investments and using the money for other purposes.
In 2008, De Schausten played piano at Entertainers restaurant. De Schausten told a customer she was a concert pianist and had a chance to play at Carnegie Hall but “couldn’t afford the costs,” the release said. The customer loaned De Schausten $100,000 with a promise of repayment, plus 50 percent of proceeds from the Carnegie concert. None of the money was repaid, according to the indictment.
“The money was spent on de Schausten’s personal expenses or business expenses not related to a Carnegie Hall concert,” the release said.
In 2011, de Schausten’s owned another Lakewood restaurant, La Vie En Rose, where she also played piano for customers. De Schausten allegedly solicited cash from several people to produce and market compact discs of her music, with promise of “double their money back,” the release said.
These funds were not repaid and de Schausten allegedly used the money for personal or business expenses not related to making CD’s.
Anyone with information on the case is asked to call investigator Troy Cooper at 303 271-6800.
De Schausten’s next court appearance is scheduled on Nov. 4.
Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822, knicholson@denverpost.com or
