A Coral Springs man who posed as a licensed architect has been arrested on multiple charges after police say he stole more than $240,000 from a homeowner’s construction loan.
Eric Mills, 47, faces grand theft, money laundering, organized fraud and unlicensed contractor charges tied to his firm, VDG Architecture.
FULL STORY: Fake architect accused of construction scams steals $240K, Coral Springs cops say
Here are key takeaways:
- Mills is accused of moving at least $240,000 from a roughly $1.2 million construction project into his own bank account, then shuffling it between other accounts to hide where the money came from.
- Police say the stolen funds went toward personal bills, entertainment, living expenses and cash withdrawals totaling $240,348.
- Mills is not a licensed architect. He has been sued at least three times for breach of contract, with homeowners calling his business a “fictitious entity.”
- One Las Olas Boulevard client paid VDG Architecture $110,449 and incurred $158,435 in expenses. After 17 months, the homeowner learned VDG had no license and never obtained demolition permits. As of early this year, the lot was vacant and Mills owes $415,030 from that judgment alone.
- The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation fined Mills $5,372 for posing as an architect without a license.
- Mills turned himself in at the Broward jail late last month on grand theft and money laundering charges. On April 7, he was charged in a separate case with grand theft, organized fraud and two counts of being an unlicensed contractor.
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