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CLEVELAND (WJW) — An Avon man with a custom home business, called a “con artist” by county prosecutors, has been indicted in two Northeast Ohio fraud schemes totaling nearly $3 million.
Authorities believe Jeremy Crawford, the owner of Cleveland Custom Homes, may have more victims, and are now asking them to come forward.
A Cuyahoga County grand jury on Thursday, Sept. 25, handed up an indictment charging Crawford, 51, with 29 felony counts in two separate schemes totaling nearly $3 million, according to a news release from the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office.
Beginning in July 2021, Crawford allegedly transacted to build three homes for clients in Cuyahoga and Lorain counties, which were valued at about $1.3 million, $650,000 and $600,000, prosecutors said.
The home loans required Crawford to document that the first phase of building had been completed and that contractors had been paid, before the banks would release the second portion of the loan to his company, according to the release.
He allegedly forged that documentation, though the work at the three homes had not been completed, prosecutors said. He then used the loan money for other projects or for his own expenses.
Beginning in February 2023, Crawford and Cleveland Custom Homes allegedly took business investments totaling $430,000 from three people in Cuyahoga, Lorain and Trumbull counties, according to the release. He promised to repay them with profit, but failed to do so, and in some cases wrote checks that bounced, prosecutors said.
The two fraud schemes, totaling $2.93 million and taking six victims, were investigated by the United States Secret Service Money Laundering Task Force, as well as Westlake and Amherst police, according to the release.
Grand jurors on Thursday indicted Crawford on 29 total felony counts, including:
- Two counts of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity
- Four counts of aggravated theft
- Three counts of telecommunications fraud
- Three counts of tampering with records
- Three counts of forgery
- One count of theft from a person in a protected class
- Three counts of securing writings by deception
- Seven counts of passing bad checks
- One count of grand theft
- Two counts of money laundering
“Jeffrey Crawford is a con artist,” Prosecutor Michael O’Malley is quoted in the release. “I want to personally thank the United States Secret Service Money Laundering Task Force and our law enforcement partners for their diligent work investigating this case.”
Investigators believe Crawford may have had other victims. Anyone with information on Crawford or who believes they are a victim of Cleveland Custom Homes is urged to call the Secret Service at 216-750-2058.
Justin Dennis
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