‘I just want this guy to stop’: Homeowner frustrated with man arrested for unlicensed contracting

PORT ORANGE, Fla. — A local businessman who goes by the name granite gangster in his email address is under fire after he was arrested for contracting without a license.

A Volusia County woman reached out to Action 9 claiming he took her money and then did shoddy work on her home without getting the proper permits.

It doesn’t appear Charles Ogden, has any trouble throwing money around. He’s seen on social media under the TikTok handle, “chuck_granitegangsters” showing off flashy cars and stacks of cash while encouraging people to make something of themselves.

In one video, he’s heard saying, “If you want it bad enough, look here, you can have it. There’s my wealth, there’s my success” as he turns the camera from his face to show some luxury cars.

Port Orange homeowner Melanie Cain told Action 9, “I felt at ease with him because he had like a charm about him. He had like a caring demeanor.”

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She said she signed a contract through Ogden that listed the company name as East Coast Countertops & Remodeling and paid more than $33,000. But the City of Port Orange soon put up a stop-work order on the project. Cain complained about “substandard and shoddy” work. City building inspectors said parts of the job required a contractor’s license and permits, which were never pulled.

Cain said, “The City of Port Orange told me that, so they called the police department for me and started the investigation.”

Police arrested Ogden for contracting without a license. He’s now awaiting trial in the case. This isn’t the first time he’s been accused of this. He’s entered no-contest pleas to misdemeanor charges for contracting without a license twice since 2019. In those cases, customers claimed he took their money and didn’t do the work properly or abandoned the job.

Ogden told Action 9′ Jeff Deal over the phone, he dissolved his business called EAST COAST COUNTERTOPS & CABINETS, LLC a few months before Cain signed a contract with EAST COAST COUNTERTOPS AND REMODELING. He said his son owns EAST COAST COUNTERTOPS AND REMODELING and he was just working as a sales rep for that company at the time.

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Ogden also pointed to the contract where he claims it shows Cain agreed to be her own contractor. He said a mold remediation company she hired did much of the work on the home, not him.

He’s now suing Cain for libel and defamation of character after he claims she made posts about him and his company on social media.

But Cain isn’t backing down and is tired of washing dishes in her bathtub.

She said, “My home is unfinished. I have a child living here. I don’t have any plumbing in my kitchen. I have an unfinished master bathroom.”

Cain told Action 9, she can’t afford to pay someone else to finish the job.

Meanwhile, Ogden filed for bankruptcy in 2020. In his bankruptcy petition, he claimed he had more than half a million dollars in liabilities, including thousands owed to people who sued him for work done on their homes.

Cain said she’s disgusted seeing him flashing cash and showing fancy cars on social media. She’s hoping he’s convicted in her case and this time gets time behind bars.

“No, I don’t just want my money back. I just want this guy to stop victimizing people. Just stop.” She added.

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