Man Charged For Billing Dozens Of Customers For Snow Removal, Never Delivering
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A Cottage Grove man is accused of bilking dozens of elderly customers for services never rendered, across several states.
The Wisconsin Attorney General announced further charges against 31-year-old Matthew Erickson. He's now facing 22 counts of theft from the state.
Prosecutors say Erickson was contracted to deliver snow removal services from 131 customers in nine states -- including Wisconsin and Minnesota -- that he never provided. Wisconsin prosecutors estimate the total amount owed at more than $60,000, nationwide. Many of the alleged victims were over the age of 60, the Wisconsin DOJ noted.
According to a criminal complaint, a woman paid $625 to Erickson in November 2017 to plow any snow above 2 inches at her father's home in Waukesha County, Wisconsin. Erickson never came to plow snow at the property despite several heavy snowfalls that season. She tried to contact him via phone and email, but her calls went unanswered.
The woman later found another number for Erickson through the Better Business Bureau. When she called, a woman in Florida answered who said she also hired Erickson to plow snow at her elderly mother's home in Milwaukee, and that he hadn't plowed there, either.
The reports triggered an investigation involving the Better Business Bureau and the Wisconsin Department of Justice. Together, they found dozens of similar cases involving Erickson across the country.
Anyone with further information on Erickson or his company, Snow Angels, is asked to call the Wisconsin DOJ at 608-266-8063.