VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — Two brothers are accused of bilking customers out of more than half a million dollars in hurricane roof repair jobs that were either never done or the contactors were never paid, according to the state attorney’s office.
Channel 9 has documented the problems with Carlson Roofing in the past, and Wednesday the two brothers behind the roofing company are behind bars accused of defrauding their customers.
Adolf Carlson and John Carlson are being held with no bond on two first-degree felony charges of organized scheme to defraud.
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State Attorney R.J. Larizza said victims of the scheme are out hundreds of thousands of dollars. He said on Wednesday that after a 15-month investigation, investigators found more than 50 victims in Volusia County alone. Larizza said there could be more victims out there.
Airline tickets, a Disney getaway and Louis Vuitton bags are just some of the items the state attorney’s office said the brothers bought with the close to half a million dollars they're accused of defrauding from customers whose damaged hurricane roofs they were hired to fix.
The brothers were caught up in what the state attorney calls “hurricane hustles.”
Operation Hurricane Hustle captures 2 brothers who the state Attorney’s office says defrauded more than 43 people in central Florida out of roughly $500k by collecting deposits in excess of 10% of total repairs from hurricane damaged roofs & never used to buy the supplies pic.twitter.com/9Lph2ICqwz
— Mike Springer WFTV (@mspringerwftv) February 6, 2019
According to the state attorney's office, the Carlsons misappropriated the money and either never bought the necessary supplies or paid the subcontractors hired to repair the roofs.
The scheme left close to a 100 people throughout Central Florida with either unfinished repair jobs or liens against them by subcontractors who were not paid.
The brothers could face up to 30 years in prison if convicted.
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