TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Polk County deputies say they are looking for victims of a man who was connected to “fraudulent business practices” across four states, including Florida.
Sunday, deputies in Brevard County arrested Patrick Gorman, 55, of Ruffs Dale, Pennsylvania, on charges out of Polk County after he was accused of exploiting an older man in Auburndale.
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The Polk County Sheriff’s Office said on Jan. 4, Gorman approached the victim at his home in Auburndale, entering it uninvited and saying the resident owed him $8,750 for repairing a hole in the roof.
Gorman allegedly showed the resident a photo of a hole in the victim’s roof, but investigators said there was no repair work done at all and that all the they found was a patch of white coating on the roof.
Authorities also said a roofing expert confirmed the roof was only three years old and had nothing wrong with it. When asked, the victim said he paid the suspect because “he didn’t know what else to do.”