Denver's community reels in the aftermath of a grand jury indictment charging five individuals with orchestrating a pervasive home remodeling fraud scheme. Attorney General Phil Weiser announced the indictment, which includes 34 counts of racketeering and felony theft, saddling Denver area homeowners with incomplete or shoddy projects, and a trail of financial loss stretching back to July 2021.
According to the Colorado Attorney General's Office, the defendants, related to Schwalb Builders and Avi's Remodeling and Contracting, are alleged to have solicited contracts and collected hefty deposits only to leave their customers' homes damaged, unbuilt, or completely uninhabitable. Per the indictment, which was unsealed today, Sean Schwalb, Avi Schwalb, Kevin Allbritton, Michael Stein, and Blanca Dominguez, facilitated these end-to-end schemes with remarkable indifference to the disruption their actions caused.
The Attorney General's office has crunched the numbers, and a financial analysis pointed to over $1.1 million in customer funds disappearing into the corporates' coffers without corresponding work done or refunds issued. This total disregard for Colorado's construction trust fund law implicates the group in clear violations and further criminal theft charges.
"Fraudsters who steal hard-earned dollars from consumers need to be held accountable," Weiser asserted, as per the Colorado Attorney General's Office, signaling an unflinching stance against the alleged theft and contractor fraud prevalent in Colorado. The grand jury's decision marks a stepping stone toward justice for defrauded homeowners and establishing deterrence against future misconduct. The Schwalbs were booked into the Denver jail earlier this month, with legal proceedings poised to unfurl in the Denver District Court under case numbers 2024CR15181 and 2024CR15182.
