AUGUSTA, Maine — A contractor accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from customers in 2019 was indicted by a Knox County Grand Jury Thursday.
The Maine Attorney General's office said Malcolm Stewart, owner of Castle Builders, had 57 customers pay more than $400,000 for home construction projects that he didn't finish, or in some cases, didn't start.
Stewart and his wife abruptly closed the business in 2019 and left Maine for South Carolina.
The video below is from 2019.
The AG'S office also has a civil suit pending against Stewart and his wife Elizabeth under the Maine Unfair Trade Practices Act on December 20, 2019. That lawsuit remains pending.
Attorney General Frey also urged consumers Thursday to be careful when hiring home construction contractors.
“Maine does not license home construction contractors so consumers must proceed with caution when hiring a contractor,” said Frey. “Ask your friends and family for the names of people who have done good work for them. Check references and do some research to determine if the contractor is reputable or has many complaints. Also, read Chapter 17 of the Attorney General’s Consumer Law Guide, which has information on Maine’s law governing home construction and repair contracts, and what you can do if you’re not satisfied with the contractor’s work.”
The Court issued a warrant for Stewart's arrest and set bail at $50,000.
Don Carrigan caught up with Ron Hawes, the former owner of the Union Agway, in 2019. Hawes said he had not been paid any rent since that June and was counting on the money to allow him to retire.
“It was my income, my IRA, my retirement fund was the income.”
He tried to reopen the store a week later, but lawyers quickly told him to stop selling merchandise because it was an asset of the bankrupt business, and would be sold at auction.