Sheriff’s officials say a man hired to perform extensive renovations to a home near Fox Lake was paid almost $150,000 and then never performed any of the work.
Lake County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli said the sheriff’s office received a report from a 68-year-old woman of home repair fraud.
The victim bought an investment property in the 35700 block of North Marine Drive in unincorporated Fox Lake in August 2021.
She hired Arturo Hernandez-Uribe, 31, of Park City, who claimed to work for “H Electric.”
Hernandez-Uribe was hired to perform various repairs inside the residence to get it prepared for use, Covelli said.
Covelli said the man agreed to install new windows, a new septic tank, a garage door, repair drywall and perform other work.
Hernandez-Uribe agreed to have the work completed by December 2021, Covelli said.
The victim paid Hernandez-Uribe a total of $147,000 to do the work. None of the agreed-upon work was completed, Covelli said.
Detectives issued subpoenas to determine where the money was deposited.
It was determined that much of the money was deposited into Hernandez-Uribe’s bank account, Covelli said.
Detectives determined Hernandez-Uribe was responsible for scamming the victim out of the money, Covelli added.
Hernandez-Uribe was charged with continuing a financial criminal enterprise, aggravated home repair fraud, theft over $100,000 and four counts of theft over $10,000.
A warrant was issued for his arrest and he was processed on the warrant last month.
Hernandez-Uribe was released from custody on pre-trial release and given a next court date of December 20.