Metro

Aide’s a con: artist

A renowned Brooklyn artist was bilked out of $150,000 by her trusted Long Island assistant — who splurged on airfares to Jamaica, luxury hotels and E-ZPasses for her family, court papers claim.

Janaina Tschape, who was recently featured at the Guggenheim, specializes in watercolors and photography and counts former Talking Heads frontman David Byrne as a friend.

She hired Marisa Vourderis, 27, to handle business affairs at her studio in 2009.

But Vourderis was quick to show off her skills in con artistry — she started ripping off Tschape just four days into her $54,000-per-year job, according to a Manhattan Civil Court suit.

“It’s a nightmare,” Tschape told The Post.

From September to October 2012, Vourderis used Tschape’s credit cards to fund eight luxury hotel stays in Manhattan and a $2,523 fling at the trendy Standard Hotel in Miami, the court papers allege.

The University of Arizona grad also paid for tickets to see Swedish deejay Avicii at Radio City Music Hall and furnished her parents’ Plainview rental apartment, the lawsuit claims.

“Marisa Vourderis was generous with plaintiffs’ money — she also used plaintiffs’ bank accounts and credit cards for the benefit and with the knowledge of the defendant family members and her boyfriend, Jason Rutigliano,” the suit says.

Last month, Vourderis purchased $2,331 in plane tickets to Montego Bay, Jamaica, for herself and Rutigliano on Tschape’s account, the suit said.

She kept the scheme secret by discontinuing the delivery of paper statements to Tschape — then doctoring the bills, according to the suit.

When Tschape caught on to the con in December 2012, the suit said, Vourderis fired panicked texts to relatives.

“I’m going to pay her back. She wants me to think. About what. What I did. I’m really upset. My head is pounding,” she told her mother, Linda, in a series of messages, according to the suit.

Her mother replied, “Should we NOT use the e z pass” and Vourderis responded: “Exactly. I’m not strong mom, I don’t have answers for what I did,” according to the suit.

Vourderis did not return messages for comment.

Additional reporting by Rebecca Rosenberg