BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - The North Dakota attorney general’s office is warning about a scam involving bogus contractors who have been taking advantage of unsuspecting rural homeowners in the oil patch.
Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem said Friday he has issued a cease and desist order against Gorman General Contracting and 11 individuals accused of violating the state’s consumer fraud, transient merchant and contractor laws.
The group is part of a large out-of-state crime ring known as “Travelers” or Irish Travelers” and has used deceptive means to get money from customers, investigators said. The suspects have allegedly showed up at an elderly person’s home unannounced, performed work without permission and used intimidation to make the victim pay for shoddy work.
They are also accused of starting a job and then demanding more money to finish the work. In one instance, after forcing the victim pay an extra $32,000, they then threatened to take the older woman’s vehicle and camper instead, at which time she fled through a window for help, authorities said.
Stenehjem called the group “a gang of thugs” and asked anyone who has been approached by the suspects to contact his office.
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