Multiple news outlets are reporting that Vincent E. Cottrell III was arrested and "charged with misrepresenting himself as a contractor and taking payments for work that was never completed"CBSPhilly video link:
http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2016/01/19/crooked-contractor-accused-of-scamming-50000-from-delco-family/
Delaware County Daily Times
Upper Darby contractor busted for taking $52G, not doing the work
http://www.delcotimes.com/article/DC/20160119/NEWS/160119526
Philadelphia Inquirer
DA: Fake Contractor stole $50,000
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20160120_DA__Fake_contractor_stole__50_000.html#gmtUVyfBBRPezWyF.03
According to the articles, the Delco DA says Cottrell stole over $50,000 from an Upper Darby, Pennsylvania couple while misrepresenting himself as an agent of JD Kelly Corp.
The news sources indicate Cottrell has been released on $75,000 bail and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Feb 2 before Magisterial District Judge Robert J. Radano.
Of course, many BuildTrend "customers" are also familiar with Cottrell because he was VP of BuildTrend Construction around the same time in 2014.
Indeed, as exhibits in Cottrell's own January 2015 civil lawsuit against BuildTrend CEO Shawn Gerety demonstrate, Vincent Cottrell had knowing connection and economic linkage to Gerety's BuildTrend and Trend Investment Group registered contractor entities. See contracts which both Cottrell and Gerety appear to have signed in September 2013 and June 2014.
Based on recent filings in BuildTrend's Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition, BuildTrend abandoned over $1,000,000 in unfinished projects and lists at least 12 homeowners as material creditors. The scale of thefts by Gerety, BuildTrend, Trend and other contractor front entities could be orders of magnitude larger than the crimes for which Cottrell has been charged in Delco.
Victims of these crooked contractors have observed common schemes, common sub-contractors and numerous common connections between the JD Kelly, RBSF, BuildTrend Construction, Trend Investment Group and Trend Consulting Group entities. Many of these entities appear to be in business today.
I hope Shawn is next. Any word on him?
ReplyDeleteIt’s a character flaw to judge someone on their past, do you have any skeletons in your closet?
DeleteSo what if you’re wrong? What if hypothectically speaking the news and DA’s office has it wrong?
What if the contractor(s) lied to save his own skin and the DA and news media just ran with the story without proper vetting or getting both sides of the story? What if people are maliciously attacking Vince’s character based on his past and are on a witch hunt based on Vince’s background and they have it all wrong??
Lastly, what if the GC is the guilty party and Vince was a subcontractor sales and project management subcontractor agent?
I would reserve judgement until all the facts have been presented and both sides of the story have come out! Reputations and families lives are at stake, please be sure you know what you are talking about before posting anymore comments!
Think hard about who you should be upset with, the General Contractor you agreed to do business with or the sales and project management agent? Vince has never been a principal of either company in question, you can do a public search to verify this.
By the way, if you read the recent news media articles closely you’ll see there was a settlement with the home owners related to the recent news story / criminal charges to which all monies were paid back and a mutual release was signed between the parties, that’s correct a settlement was reached between parties and their attorneys and an agreed upon negotiated amount was paid back in full over 6 months prior to the story being aired and charges being filed.
#Shameful
Vincent, stealing is a character flaw. If you want to make this right, return the money to the people you stole from when you told them jobs they were paying for would be completed and you knew there was no plan to ever do the contracted work.
DeleteVincent, stealing is a character flaw. If you want to make this right, return the money to the people you stole from when you told them jobs they were paying for would be completed and you knew there was no plan to ever do the contracted work.
DeletePathetic excuses above. Vince has a long list of convictions. I was one of his victims. He is a straight scam artist. Now all of a sudden there is this huge conspiracy to have him arrested again. Wake up!
ReplyDeleteTo answer your question, you should be #shameful of yourself for judging me thinking that I would want Vincent to pay for something. FYI: I never did business with him, I don't even know him, my business was done with Shawn, and it is him who I want in jail. So you should not be so judgeful yourself, and if if this guy goes to court and is proven guilty for what he did, will he will pay for what he did and that's it and if he's not guilty then his name will be clean. Capish
ReplyDeletePlease post current updates:
ReplyDeleteMobile Web - News - Fraud charges withdrawn against Delaware County construction agenthttp://www.delcotimes.com/general-news/20160317/fraud-charges-withdrawn-against-delaware-county-construction-agent