Con Artist Contractor Caught
Ventura County – With a trail of fraudulent “fence contractor” and identity theft scams trailing him from as far away as Connecticut, Theodore Diamond, 35, finally surfaced in the City of Moorpark pursuant to numerous citizen complaints about home improvements paid for but never performed.
Theodore Diamond
A pair of next door neighbors had each contacted Moorpark Police about Diamond, who represented himself as the owner of “Guardian Fence”, gave them bids for installation work, took deposits in the form of checks made out in his name, and then never returned to do any work whatsoever.
When contacted by these customers Moorpark Police and Thousand Oaks Police Department Special Enforcement Unit deputies learned that “Diamond misrepresented himself to at least seven victims as an employee of Guardian Fence,” according to Sgt. Victor Fazio, Ventura County Sheriff’s Public Information Officer.
Diamond had never commenced any of the work for which he received payment in the guise of an employee of Guardian Fence; he was, in fact, only an occasional sub-contractor for the firm.
Investigation into Diamond’s modus operandi revealed that he had enrolled Guardian Fence in a “lead referral service”, which Fazio described as little more than an internet-based device to intercept viable client leads and have them directed to himself and not to Guardian offices. With the contact information for potential Guardian customerrs, Diamond then made direct contact, sold bids and collected deposits in the name of Guardian which he kept for himself.
Diamond was contacted by Moorpark Police and Thousand Oaks deputies on August 21st, when he was taken into custody and booked into Ventura County Jail on multiple charges of theft by false pretences, with bail set at $100,000.
Records indicate additional crimes of this nature perpetrated in January 2012 by Diamond in Hartford, Connecticut where he is being investigated by that state’s attorney general.
Photo: courtesy Ventura County Jail Booking
Read more:
Fillmore Gazette: Identity Theft Arrest
KeyT: Contractor Con Artist
Hartford Courant: Why is This Man in Jail? (A Snail Tale)
