If you’re accused of a white collar crime like fraud, you could face felony charges and other penalties. Taking advantage of others by making untrue or inflated statements is fraudulent and can land you in trouble with the law.
That is what happened in this case out of East Baton Rouge Parish, where a woman has been arrested for making false claims about her background as a contractor. According to the story from May 8, the victim claims her home took on eight feet of water during floods in August.
The homeowner called the 57-year-old woman and asked if she was a licensed contractor. She said she was, went to the woman’s home and did a walk-through. She gave the victim a contract, which she claims she believed was only an estimate. She signed it.
The victim alleges that she said the woman was not hired, but the contractor submitted the contract to the woman’s mortgage company to collect $25,000, an initial payment owed. She also attempted to obtain compensation again in December and tried to obtain a check for payment fraudulently. It was around then that it was discovered that the woman was not licensed. By then, she had placed a lien on the victim’s home.
The unlicensed woman had previous run-ins with the State Contractor’s Board, which confirmed that she was not licensed. The woman had previously been arrested for contractor fraud as well.
If you misrepresent yourself to a client, you can face charges in the state of Louisiana. Your attorney can help you defend yourself if you find yourself under arrest for charges of fraud like this woman.
Source: WAFB, “Contractor accused of fraud arrested again,” Rachael Thomas, May 08, 2017