An Evansville man is facing felony charges of fraud and theft. The Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office has arrested a local construction company after investigators say he stole thousands of dollars from an elderly client.
According to deputies, 33-year-old Matthew William Martin, owner of Matthew Martin Construction, is accused of altering checks given to him by an 85-year-old Evansville woman. The victim reported that she and her husband had hired Martin for small jobs around their home.
Detectives say Martin instructed the victim to leave the payee line blank, claiming he did not have a bank account and he had others cash his checks for him. He also asked that the written dollar amount be left empty.
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Investigators determined Martin allegedly inflated the dollar amounts on several of the checks, pushing them into the thousands, and then filled in the written amounts to match. The total loss to the victims was just under $10,000…