2 Investigators: Name-Changing Contractor Focus Of Fraud Complaints
(CBS) -- A Will county woman accuses a contractor of taking her money, then putting her family at risk.
She says three months ago, she paid the man thousands of dollars and received nothing in return. As CBS 2 Investigator Dave Savini reports, she is not the only victim.
The contractor advertises online, has online complaints against him and a criminal record. But Andrea Johnson says you can still fall for his pitch, in part, because he uses a fake name.
Ever since tornado season began, it has been pure fear for Andrea Johnson. She and her family live in in Will County, where there are open fields and a history of devastating tornadoes, including one that ripped through the County in 1990.
Dozens of people were killed and hundreds injured. Johnson toured that devastation and has never been the same.
Johnson hired a contractor she found online to build a storm shelter because her ranch home does not have a basement. He wanted half the money up front in cash. She gave him $5,910.
"And then I never saw him again," she says.
CBS 2 tracked him down. His name is David Sroge and Johnson was not the only one to face the aftermath of his deception.
"There's nothing to talk about," Sroge said when questioned.
The 2 Investigators found Sroge is a repeat felon. His arrests include thefts and deception in both Illinois and Indiana, where, in 2012, Crown Point police say he took nearly $9,000 from a senior citizen for work he did not do.
Sroge's background failed to show up when Johnson hired him.
"He gave me a fake name," she says.
He told her his name was Christopher Castillo and that was the name on her receipt, Johnson says. When he failed to do any work, Johnson became suspicious. She went online and discovered his real identity.
"He'll morph into any type of company he can, just to get your money," she says.
When he didn't do her job, Sroge was fired by Johnson, who has been trying to get her money back. He is now facing two police investigations. Plainfield police are investigating Johnson's case. Crown Point police also are investigating to see if what happened with Johnson would be a probation violation from his 2012 case.
"This guy needs to be put away," Johnson says.
The Illinois Attorney General's Office is looking into this as well.
Law enforcement officials say Sroge has avoided more serious trouble by returning money to victims who pursued him. After Johnson went to police, Sroge sent her $1,500.