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Contractor arrested after fraud forces elderly BR man to sell home

6 years 10 months 1 week ago Saturday, May 20 2017 May 20, 2017 May 20, 2017 4:11 PM May 20, 2017 in News
Source: WBRZ

BATON ROUGE - Police say an elderly Baton Rouge man was forced to sell his flood-damaged home after he was allegedly scammed by a Texas contractor.

According to the Baton Rouge Police Department, 45-year-old David Kite was arrested Friday after he allegedly took thousands of dollars from a 71-year-old man in return for home repairs that were never completed.

The victim reportedly hired Kite after his home sustained significant damage in the flood of August 2016. The victim says Kite had agreed to complete work on the home for $75,000 at the end of October 2016.

The victim told police the last time Kite or one of his subcontractors had done any work on the home was in early January.

According to police, the elderly man made an initial payment of $20,000 to Kite in October and paid a second installment of $24,915 in December. Finally, a third installment of $24,915 was paid in January.

The victim said that after he paid $69,830, all Kite had done was cut out some old sheetrock and replace it. He also says that the second installment was to pay for new cabinets and counter tops, which he later discovered had never been ordered. 

Police say the victim has repeatedly attempted to contact Kite via phone call and text message to no avail. 

The victim also told police that due to Kite never completing his work, as well as having no more money to hire another contractor, he was forced to sell his unfinished home and move.

Kite was arrested and charged with home improvement fraud, misappropriation of payments, and theft of assets of an aged/disabled person. Police say Kite has previously been charged with home improvement fraud in Livingston Parish, where he was placed on probation.

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