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Birmingham Bridal has recently closed and the owner has been accused of fraud. After not being able to pick up their dresses from Birmingham Bridal, several brides were forced to find dresses elsewhere at the last minute.
Photo by Patricia O’Blenes
BIRMINGHAM — After several brides reported not receiving their custom wedding dress orders or refunds from Birmingham Bridal, the owner has been accused of fraud.
On Sept. 5, Birmingham Bridal owner Nadica Ristivojevic, a 58-year-old from West Bloomfield, was charged with nine counts of false pretenses –$1,000 or more, but less than $20,000, one count for each victim. Authorities said that a total of approximately $40,000-$50,000 was defrauded from customers.
In 48th District Court, Ristivojevic was arraigned Sept. 8, where a $750,000 cash/surety bond was issued by Magistrate Julie Nelson-Klein. Ristivojevic was held in the Oakland County Jail following arraignment.
Ristivojevic is represented by attorney John Freeman, from Troy.
“We intend to defend against the charges. However, for her to be incarcerated on three-quarters of a million dollar bail, with no criminal history on a nonviolent offense, truly shocks the conscience,” Freeman said. “I’ve been practicing criminal law for 30 years, both as a prosecutor and defense attorney, and I can say based on that experience and the current kind of cases that I handle, that the amount of bond that’s been set is absolutely absurd.”
According to a press release from the city of Birmingham, brides were reportedly given several excuses from the owner about why their dress was not there. In June, Birmingham Bridal abruptly closed its former location at 534 N. Old Woodward Ave. Many brides were left to rush-order dresses from other businesses in order to have them in time for their weddings.
“The first few we received were brides actually trying to go to their final fittings and get their dress because their wedding was coming up soon, and they found the location to be closed and couldn’t get a response from the owner,” Birmingham Police Chief Scott Grewe said.
According to the press release, detectives found that Birmingham Bridal was having money struggles. The investigation uncovered that the owner was paying for older orders by using funds from new orders. It was also found that Ristivojevic had a gambling habit and was trying to win back the money to pay for customers’ dress orders, police said.
Detective Rebekah Springer was recognized by the Birmingham Police Department “for her outstanding work that brought justice to the victims in this case.”
Since this report has gone public, Grewe said they have been getting more reports from previous Birmingham Bridal customers who experienced something similar.
Grewe encourages people to come forward if they have experienced fraud by Birmingham Bridal.
“If they are a victim of this and they have given a deposit or given money to this bridal store for a dress, they will want to contact us to file a report so we can include that in any future increase in charges that we may have on the suspect,” Grewe said.
Springer may be contacted at (248) 530-1895
