Man And Wife Face Joint Trial, Accused Of Construction Scam
YORK, Neb. (AP) — A married couple is charged with bilking a Nebraska farmer out of about $40,000, and prosecutors say it’s not the only scam the two have pulled off.
Karla Nelson, 46, and her husband, George Nelson, 47, on Monday were scheduled for a joint trial on July 20. Both have pleaded not guilty to felony theft in York County, the York News-Times reported ( ).
The Nelsons remained in custody on Wednesday. George Nelson’s attorney, Nancy Waldron, said the Nelsons deny all charges against them.
According to prosecutors, the Nelsons defrauded a York County farmer out of $41,100 in 2012 by duping him into hiring their company, Baron Builders, to construct a large outbuilding. Some workers who said they were employees of the company did some initial work on the project for one day that year, but never showed up again. When the farmer tried the Baron Builders phone numbers in South Dakota he had used to speak to Karla Nelson before, he got a recording saying they were no longer in service. He also got a recording at a Georgia phone number for the company.
Investigators say George Nelson has several felony convictions for issuing bad checks and thefts by false representation and served time in Minnesota. The two also are charged in South Dakota with two counts of theft on allegations that they sold metal buildings that never were completed, prosecutors contend.
A spokeswoman for the South Dakota attorney general’s office didn’t immediately respond to a call Wednesday from The Associated Press seeking information about the status of the cases in that state.
In January 2013, the North Dakota attorney general ordered the Nelsons to stop doing business there, citing the pending cases in South Dakota, George Nelson’s Minnesota convictions and allegations that the Nelsons scammed consumers in at least nine North Dakota counties. The office said the two were operating without a contractor’s license.
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Information from: York News-Times,
