SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Aug. 5, 2023 (Gephardt Daily) — A 57-year-old Utah man has been charged with collecting more than $200,000 for home remodeling projects but failing to complete the work.
Patrick M. Brody was charged Friday with nine counts of communications fraud and one count of pattern of unlawful activity, all second-degree felonies, in connection with an alleged home remodeling scheme between December 2020 and October 2021.
Brody pocketed more than $200,000 from nine home remodeling customers despite failing to start or complete any work, according to the Utah Attorney General’s Office. The scheme is believed to have victimized at least 25 clients, charging documents state.
Brody used his company Cornerstone Construction to sign up clients for various home improvement projects, according to the AG’s office.
“All these clients paid deposits and Cornerstone either failed to do any work on the projects or started some amount of work but then failed to complete the projects,” the charges state.
Brody then used that money to fund construction on other projects, according to charging documents.
“Cornerstone’s clients were never told that the money they paid could be used for other projects, and the clients understood that the money they paid would be used for their own respective home projects,” charges state.
An investigation into Brody and his company found that some of the money from clients was used for legitimate business purposes such as advertising and payroll, according to the charges.
“However, a large amount of the checks from the clients would be deposited into various accounts related to Cornerstone and other companies controlled by Brody. Then the money would be moved into other accounts, and Brody would convert the money to personal use, not leaving money to complete the projects Cornerstone contracted to perform,” charges state.
Brody served time in federal prison in 2013 after being convicted of a real estate investment fraud scheme, according to the attorney general’s office.
Brody was charged with conspiracy, mail/wire fraud and money laundering in a nine-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in October 2012.
The indictment alleged Brody and his wife, Laura Ann Roser, solicited and sold investments in real estate properties in several states through their company, Mason Hill.
Mason Hill offered to sell investors rental properties at a low price, repair and rehabilitate them if necessary, find renters for the properties, collect rent, and maintain and manage the properties for the benefit of the investors, according to the attorney general’s office.
Once investors’ funds were received, they were co-mingled with other investors’ money, used to purchase properties for earlier investors, and used to pay company operating expenses, as well as personal expenses for Brody and Roser, according to the indictment.
In some instances, investors’ money was used to make Ponzi payments to earlier investors, according to the AG’s office.
