Montana Home Builder Defrauds Customers of $2 Million

Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - 61-year-old Brett Mauri of Stevensville was recently tried and found guilty in Missoula Federal Court of wire fraud and money laundering charges after defrauding customers of more than $2 million by taking money to build log homes, but using the money for himself.

I spoke with U.S. Attorney for Montana Jesse Laslovich about the case.

Stevensville Log Home Builder Convicted of Fraud and Money Laundering

“Last week, we convicted a gentleman from Stevensville who we allege and the jury agreed, who was convicted of four counts of wire fraud and two counts of money laundering,” began Laslovich. “The scheme that we proved was that he pretended to be a log home builder and in this case, we had nine victims, all who had similar stories, who had said they had given him thousands and thousands of dollars to build custom log homes.”

Laslovich provided just one example of the way Mauri defrauded his customers.

One Victim was Tricked Into Paying $60,000 for Logs That Didn't Exist

“For one victim, for example, he'd make a representation that the logs were available and that he needed the money right away,” he said. “(The victim)  drove a $60,000 check late one evening because they thought that they were going to miss out on these logs, and he didn't even get a toothpick for them, and (Mauri) just stole the money.”

Laslovich described just some of the damage done by this fraudulent activity.

“It was around $2 million, so it was nothing to blink at,” he said. “For all these folks, they had to get a new contractor. In many instances, the new contractor had to undo what Mr. Mauri had done, because it was not of quality. They, of course, had to pay for that in addition to paying the new contractor, in addition to having lost the money that they gave Mr. Mauri.”

Laslovich Said Every Effort Will be Made to Reimburse His Victims

Laslovich described some of the ways his office will attempt to provide financial relief for Mauri’s victims.

“What the government will do; he has property in the Bitterroot, and so if that is sold, we'll ensure that any proceeds from that sale of the property will go to the victims,” he said. “We'll have a restitution hearing around the time of the sentencing hearing. That's about $2 million. He spent most of the money, and we have capabilities of making sure that the victims get back as much money as we can give them through the sale of that property.”

READ MORE: Missoula News - Crime Reports

Laslovich said Mauri faces a maximum of up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release.

Laslovich said a federal offender is required to spend the entire term in prison without the possibility of parole.