Police: Glass Co. Owner Shattered Customers' Hopes
MIAMI BEACH - (CBS4) Several Miami Beach property owners and residents say they placed their trust in a man whose company replaced and repaired glass, windows and mirrors.
Instead, they said, they were bilked out of thousands of dollars and the man who promised to perform the job he was hired to do is behind bars charged with organized fraud under $20,000.
Todd Wharton, owner of Twin City Glass, appeared before a bond court judge Wednesday who set a $5,000 bond.
Wharton, 42, did not discuss the details of the case when he appeared before the judge, but did say he had only $400 in the bank and lived with friends.
Police say his victims suspect he may have more.
In March of 2009, Gina Battaglini, an Ocean Drive resident, paid him more than $5,000 to work on her condo. Battaglini lived in another state and communicated with Wharton by cell.
"She has had to communicate with Wharton via telephone, and was not aware that he did not do any work, nor did he even attempt to pull permits," the Miami Beach police report states.
"He doesn't have an address, he doesn't have a work address, so nobody can really find him, he's just a fly-by-night kind of guy," Battaglini told CBS4's Gio Benitez.
Others say Wharton did the same thing to them. Wharton is accused of defrauding seven other people out of $8,500.
How was Wharton caught? Just days ago, Battaglini says she reached Wharton by phone and told him, "You better bring me my windows, or else I'm going to go door to door, and I'm going to find you, you're not going to rip me off," she said.
Battaglini then says she befriended Wharton's assistant. That assistant helped police find and capture Wharton.
Now, police say there may be other victims. They are asking anyone who might have been defrauded to call the Miami Beach Police Department at 305-673-7900.
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