Well I received word today that the ripoff furniture store owner from Malvern/Frazer was sentenced….finally. I mean, this has been going on for a couple of years or more.
So I am referring to Matt Kaplan of the now defunct M. Kaplan Interiors.
M. Kaplan Interiors was a furniture store and interior design firm owned by Matt and Margaret Kaplan. The business, which claimed a long history in the area, was closed following multiple allegations in 2023-2024 of widespread consumer fraud.
I only went in there once when I first moved to Chester County. I pretty much walked out the door minutes after I went in because I was just starting to look for a sofa for our living room and the woman on the floor, who I guess was his wife, was incredibly rude. And it was because I didn’t know what I wanted other than I didn’t want a huge sofa. I was just so uncomfortable. I left and I literally went across the street to resellers at the time and bought a vintage Chippendale sofa and had it recovered and rebuilt.
So today I was told Kaplan was sentenced today. Supposedly 6-23 months in Chester County Prison, 6 years probation, and he must make full restitution. He reports on Monday or something and has this weekend to get his life in order before going to jail.
My comment on the restitution is, I will believe it when I see it. Wonder what is happening with his wife? Because she was charged with a couple of things and I don’t know that they ever did anything with her.
Kaplan pled guilty this past September. See article embedded below and here is an excerpt:
WEST CHESTER — The owner of a now-closed high-end furniture store who was accused of taking money from multiple customers, some of them elderly, but not fulfilling their orders, has pleaded guilty to felony charges in the cases against him, some of which were filed more than two years ago.
As Common Pleas Court Judge Allison Bell Royer prepared to hear a pre-trial matter in the case of Matthew Kaplan on Sept. 2, his attorney informed the judge that his client would instead enter open pleas to four counts in the quartet of cases against him.
Kaplan, 56, of Abington, Montgomery County, pleaded guilty to two counts of deceptive or fraudulent business practices, a second-degree felony; passing bad checks; and theft by failure to make required disposition of funds, also a second-degree felony.
As part of the plea colloquy he signed, Kaplan admitted that from 2018 to 2022, in the course of doing business at M. Kaplan Interiors in Frazer, he “offered and exposed for sale and delivered less than the represented quantity of furniture, including to victims at or above 60 years of age.”….
Kaplan appeared before Judge Allison Bell Royer with his attorney, Mark Cerroni of Media. The guilty pleas came without an agreed-upon sentence between Cerroni and Assistant District Attorney Peter Johnsen, so Royer will decide his sentence at a later date.
Some similar charges are also pending against Kaplan’s wife, Margaret Kaplan. Her trial is pending.
This guy tanked a business that was started in like the 1920s. I find that amazing.
It took a while but justice was served. I wonder if they will just ignore his wife now that they have sentenced him? Only time will tell.
