Brothers Arrested For Bilking Clients Out Of Over $450,000

Daytona Beach, FL - Two brothers from Jacksonville are facing over 50 first-degree felony fraud counts for promising customers - most in Volusia and Flagler counties - to fix hurricane-damaged properties and failing to do so. 44-year-old Adolph W. Carlson (right) and 41-year-old John E. Carlson (left) stole over $450,000 from at least 58 clients over a two-year period, according to documents released this morning (February 6th) by the office of Florida 7th Circuit State Attorney R.J. Larizza. Speaking to reporters soon afterward, Larizza - who was flanked by Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody and Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood - said both men were arrested in Duval County and will be brought to Volusia County soon to face trial.

.@Sao7F State Attorney RJ Larizza announces criminal charges against two brothers for defrauding nearly 60 people out of over $450,000 for repairs promised after their homes were damaged by hurricanes. pic.twitter.com/zcN8NLH4DP

— News Daytona Beach (@NewsDaytonaBch) February 6, 2019

Moody - who recently took over for term-limited Pam Bondi - says the Carlson brothers have been under the microscope of state investigators for some time because of similar claims in other parts of the state.

#Florida Attorney General @AshleyMoodyFL on criminal charges against two brothers for defrauding nearly 60 people out of over $450,000 for repairs promised after their homes were damaged by hurricanes. pic.twitter.com/YX9erqh4kX

— News Daytona Beach (@NewsDaytonaBch) February 6, 2019

At least 10 of the victims of Carlson Enterprises, LLC are in the Deltona area, according to Chitwood.

View this post on Instagram

Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood talks about the arrests of two brothers for scamming people out of over $450,000. Story coming to NewsDaytonaBeach.com.

A post shared by WNDB News (@newsdaytonabeach) on Feb 6, 2019 at 6:16am PST

50 in all were in Volusia County, with another seven in Flagler County and one in St. Johns County. The brothers are listed as managing members of Carlson Enterprises, with Adolph as the registered agent. According to the charging documents, the company took deposits in excess of 10% of the total cost of roof repairs from at least 43 clients who hired them between January 2016 and April 2018. In those cases, according to Larizza, no work was ever done. In at least 15 other cases, prosecutors say the repair work was completed but the Carlson brothers never paid the subcontractors who did the work after they were paid by the clients. That led to liens places on those customers' properties. Larizza and Moody noted that the Carlson took $455,660.84 from those clients and used much of that money on personal expenses, including buying airline tickets and products from Louis Vuitton.