Contractor took $19K in Clearfield County home improvement fraud

CLEARFIELD COUNTY, Pa. (WTAJ) — A Pennsylvania contractor is accused of taking over $19,000 for a home improvement project in Clearfield County and leaving the job unfinished.

Wilson Burns Jr., 36, of Felton, was charged with home improvement fraud after a property owner claimed the contractor agreed to take on the job in October 2022 and has not completed the work as of November.

According to a criminal complaint, the owner contacted Clearfield Regional police on Oct. 27 to report the fraud saying he hired Construction Kingdom, owned by Burns, to work on his property in the Clearfield Borough.

When the owner and Burns signed a contract in October 2022, the owner said he paid Burns $22,339 for the total scope of the improvement project. Since Oct. 18, 2022, Burns allegedly never finished work on the job leaving the property owner out $19,339.

According to the complaint, the owner told police he tried to contact Burns but said Burns disconnected his phone number. Burns also allegedly never made attempts to finish the job in Clearfield.

Police noted in the affidavit Burns received the “massive amount of money” through fraudulent activity and requested an arrest warrant be issued for him.

Burns was arraigned on Thursday morning and released on $50,000 unsecured bail. He’s charged with one felony count of receiving advance payment for services and failing to perform, one felony count of theft and one felony count of deceptive business practices.