CALIFORNIA, Md. (November 17, 2005) — The owner of Dexperts, Paul J. Catlett, 48, of Owings has been indicted for theft.
Dexperts was a home improvement company located on Keith Lane in Owings,
Calvert County. Throughout 2004, Catlett
allegedly signed contracts with five victims to perform home improvement labor, accepted deposits from homeowners, then failed to perform the jobs,
according to police in Calvert County.
One victim contacted MHIC, the Maryland Home Improvement Commission, which had already received 32 complaints against Dexperts since July 2002. MHIC had suspended Dexperts license on
October 01, 2004 and then revoked it on November 01, 2004. However, the company continued to advertise and its webpage was still active as of October 11th of this year,
according to police.
After one victim contacted the Calvert County Sheriff’s Office, Det. C. Ray, of the Calvert
Investigative Team, and Steve Rupard, an investigator with the States Attorney’s Office, began an investigation and discovered four additional victims.
Police say a total of over $38,000.00 was fraudulently accepted by Catlett for jobs never completed and in four of the cases, never performed at all.
The investigation culminated in the indictments by a grand jury of Catlett on October 20, 2005 for five counts of Theft Over $500, one count of Theft Scheme, and 4 counts of Failure to Perform a Contract.
Police are asking anyone with similar complaints involving Dexperts to contact Det. Cari Ray at 410-535-1600 ext. 2595.