St. Marys man indicted

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SIDNEY — A Mercer County grand jury has indicited a St. Marys man for his alleged role in a fraud investigation.

According to Shelby County Sheriff Jim Frye, Jeffery Dale Collingsworth, 47 of St. Marys, was indicted and an arrest warrant has been issued.

A multi-county fraud investigation led to the indictment. Officials are still seeking any individuals or businesses that may have done business with this specific company and been frauded.

The investigation found the suspect bid on a job, such as roofing or building a barn and after giving them a quote he would write a contract and collect ½% of the estimate as a deposit. He then would not start the project and would tell the victims that he was ordering supplies, the next day or two after collecting the deposit. The contracts were written to have the work completed within 60 of signing the contract.

Work wasn’t completed on the jobs and the suspect allegedly wrote checks to the victions. The checks didn’t clear the bank and he told them he would get the money and pay them. Meetings to give the money back never happened.

The investigation has revealed that there are many individuals and businesses from various counties in Ohio to include Logan, Auglaize, Shelby, Mercer, and Adams County in Indiana.

The suspect has fraudulently taken approximately $375,000 from the victims. This total would include unpaid invoices and deposits that were never returned. There are a total of 10 victims at this time and one victim has been taken for $47,500.00.

“Shelby County Prosecutor Tim Sell has asked that we reach out and see if there are any other victims before we present the case to the Shelby County grand jury. If you have done business with J&R Roofing and remodeling and you were defrauded, please contact Shelby County Investigator Angie Jones at 937-494-2116,” said Frye.

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