EVANSVILLE — A local contractor with a history of defrauding customers stands accused of pocketing more than $150,000 from a Vanderburgh County homeowner for a botched and incomplete construction project.
Vanderburgh County deputies and a U.S. Marshals task force arrested Eric N. Morgan, operating as Rugged Construction, Thursday after a months-long investigation, the sheriff’s office stated in a news release.
The homeowner told authorities she hired Morgan, 41, in late 2023 to construct an additional room that would allow her ailing mother to receive at-home care, but that Morgan stiffed vendors and left the job half done and riddled with code violations.
Morgan was booked into the Vanderburgh County Jail just before 11:50 a.m. on six counts each of felony fraud and theft, according to court records. His bond was set at $5,000.
According to the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office, the victim told detectives she paid Morgan an initial deposit of $25,000, and that over the following months — despite repeated delays — she continued making payments to Rugged Construction totaling more than $152,600.
The project reportedly broke ground Feb. 1, 2024, but was plagued by problems from the start, deputies allege.
According to investigators, Morgan never obtained a building permit, never scheduled inspections and failed to disclose that Rugged Construction lacked a contractor’s license, insurance, or the performance bond required by the Vanderburgh County Building Commission.
When the homeowner began asking questions, she discovered cabinets she paid for were never ordered and learned a subcontractor filed an $8,890 mechanic’s lien against her property after Morgan failed to pay him.
Officials believe the addition will need to be demolished and rebuilt from scratch just to comply with county code, according to the sheriff’s office.
The Vanderburgh County Building Commission is now working with the victim to bring the project into legal compliance, but the process is expected to be lengthy and costly.
Complicating matters further, officials say Morgan did apply for a room addition permit, but that he submitted the documents under another person’s name. That person, when contacted by authorities, denied having anything to do with the job and said their identity had been used without their knowledge or consent, according to the VCSO release.
At the time of Morgan’s arrest this week, he was out on bond in a separate home improvement fraud case, according to court records. And that may not be the only active case.
“It is believed that additional agencies are investigating (Morgan) for similar offenses,” the VCSO release states.
In 2017, Morgan was convicted of securities fraud in federal court for orchestrating an investment scheme that cost victims more than $650,000, court documents show.
As of Thursday afternoon, the Vanderburgh County jail’s website listed Morgan as having been released pursuant to a $5,000 bond. Court records do not yet state when Morgan will go before a judge or if he has retained a defense attorney.
Houston may be contacted at houston.harwood@courierpress.com
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Convicted fraudster’s contracting firm accused of stealing $150k from Vanderburgh homeowner
Reporting by Houston Harwood, Evansville Courier & Press / Evansville Courier & Press
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