COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KOAA) — The owner of a Colorado Springs fencing company who has faced multiple civil cases for taking customer deposits without completing work has now been arrested on criminal charges.
Mark Lundy, owner of Peak Fencing, faces two criminal counts of theft. Colorado Springs Police detectives made the arrest after an investigation that included court documents detailing alleged fraudulent check activity.
According to court documents, Lundy deposited a check for more than $46,000 into his bank account via mobile deposit, then deposited the same check again in person. Before the bank identified the fraudulent activity, the money had been depleted from the account.
- Watch News5's coverage of the first time speaking with homeowners below:
The second criminal case relates to Lundy taking people's deposits and never coming to do the work.
Those court documents say police spoke with Lundy's father, who told detectives he did not know where his son spent the money from customers but assumed it went towards drugs and survival expenses.
When viewers first contacted News5 last fall, there were three small claims cases against Lundy in El Paso County. That number has since grown to 14.
Jessica Gorman is one of those customers. She paid a $6,000 deposit for a fence that was never built. Despite winning her civil case, she says collecting the money is another matter.
"We now are just kind of sitting there with an award that says he owes you this much money plus additional expenses, but there's not much we can do if we can't serve him," Gorman said.
Gorman said Lundy made repeated promises to make things right but continued taking new business. News5 asked Mark Lundy if he was planning on paying homeowners back.
- Watch News5's coverage of the zoom interview with Lundy below:
"There's been so many promises about oh I'm gonna make it right and I'm gonna do all these things, but then he continued to take estimates and continue like doing business as usual and I'm not sure if there was any intent to ever do it," Gorman said.
The reporting done on this case for KOAA is referenced in the second arrest affidavit, including an email Peak Fencing sent customers at the time stating they were "committed to making things right."
Gorman said the number of families affected has become familiar to those working in the courthouse.
"Seeing all these same families and they all know all the clerks are like, oh we know this case, so you know it's so common," Gorman said.
- Watch News5's coverage of the first time Lundy was seen in court for this case below:
Gorman said the situation has been a difficult start to putting down roots in Colorado Springs.
"We moved out here and was kind of excited to start putting down roots and then trusted the reviews and then kind of just got wrapped up in this along with numerous other families," Gorman said.
She said the small claims cases reflect a pattern that goes back further than her own experience.
"It sounds like there's a long history with people and families and businesses that are in our same situation," Gorman said.
While Gorman is glad the criminal case is moving forward, she is not optimistic about recovering her money.
"We are a long ways down the line and so it doesn't seem likely that we will ever see it again," Gorman said.
A jury trial is scheduled later this month for one of the criminal cases. News5 will be following both cases.
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