How do you stop a general contractor with a 20 year history of non-payment and theft?

[flannagain]

For the past 4 months, I have been trying to collect on invoices for work performed for a general contractor doing business in my state. He resides in the same state, but out of town. My business partner and I have been hired by the contractor on three separate jobs and in each case, collecting is next to impossible. He refused to sign a work contract with us and would not give us the down payment we normally require. Unfortunately, we did the work anyway. My sister is an employee of the company and that is probably the reason we continued with the work.

I recently performed a online court records search on this man and was amazed at my findings. He has no less than 60 judgments against him and in one case he was convicted of Theft in the 1st Degree, was sentenced to 10 years in prison and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of approximately $142,000. That was approximately 10 years ago. He served a few days of his sentence on two separate occasions and was bailed out with $43,000 in bonds. A partial restitution was made. Of the remaining cases, he still owes in excess of $200,000. It is my understanding that he has filed bankruptcy, but have not confirmed that yet.

His pattern continues. On the jobs I worked on recently, he still owes subcontractors. On the first job for which he was paid in full in September, he still owes approximately $15,000. Yesterday, we collected from the homeowner on the 2nd job. On the final job, we ceased work on December 23, 2008 and filed a mechanics lien. We spoke with the homeowner and explained our concerns. The owner had already paid the general $35,000 with a balance due of approximately $23,000 based on the building permit information filed with the city. The job was started the end of September and to date, we have received nothing. The general contractor has promised payment by the 10th and 25th of each month if we provide invoices by the 25th and 10th, respectively. He has promised payment but neglected to write the checks.

I visited with the owner of his last business operation. He had convinced her to let him put the business in her name and make him an employee. Most of his clients and vendors are unaware of this. He has the same arrangement with the bookkeeper of his current business. It appears that he then collects money from the clients and then either spends it or diverts it elsewhere, thus leaving the unsuspecting owner with a series of bounced checks, lawsuits and irate vendors. He is eventually brought to court, a judgment is ruled against him and he walks away. The plaintiff, in most cases, receives little or nothing in restitution. It also appears that he may have forged signatures on credit applications and possibly be involved in a check kiting. Again, he is not the owner of the business, but it appears that he is directly involved in its financial operations.

The previous owner has contacted the local authorities, but they basically say they can't do anything. One vendor has contacted the Attorney General of the State and is awaiting a response.

My question is this: With his 20 year legal track record of nonpayment and theft, what can be done to stop him from continuing his practice/scam? He is brilliant in the execution of this "scam", but needs to be stopped for the protection of unsuspecting clients, vendors and subcontractors. What can be done? Does a class action against him apply?

[kalvin71]

call your state Attorney General's office