Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Oregon

Hi Law Gurus,

I bought a building that needed repair. Business storefront and living quarters upstairs ...well, up ladder, there still are no stairs. A friend's fiance was going to do the work for me. He needed $11,300.00 to buy materials. I wrote a check. He then deposited the money into his parents bank account (he's 40, I thought this was weird) He never did any work. Claims he ordered materials ..claims he ordered stairs and windows. (three months ago) He has ALL my money and I cannot open my business without the building being finished. I cannot buy materials to finish it myself. He has another fiance and has dumped my friend and had his phone disconnected. Do I have ANY recourse? Can I get anything from the parents? (That's the big question) He has a gambling problem. I know I can file Civil Court, but when I win...I'll never see a dime. Is there ANY chance he can go to Jail for this? (is Conspiracy to commit fraud or grand larceny pushing it)? I'm not the only person he conned in town...and Mommy doesn't want to see him go to jail so she'll pay, but I need some kind of reason that would make her choose paying up as opposed to just letting him not pay. I did some digging and found he has a prior embezzlement conviction. He stole 30K from the union when he was union president when he worked as a prison guard. I have that report. There is another person in town that he ripped off pretty big as well.

Right now mom's avoiding me, but she did tell me - in front of the police Officer that I called on her son - that she'd pay me my stupid money. Of course I haven't seen it yet. The ex-fiance keeps saying he'll give me my money back, but he has to check receipts (there are none - it's a dodge he's been using for 6 weeks or more) It's getting colder. It gets to be -14 degrees here and we have 11 broken windows...and no money or income because of him. I need help.

Thanks for any direction you can give me.

Brandy Bruce


Asked on 9/14/10, 10:26 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Daniel Meek Daniel W. Meek

You say that Mom agreed to repay you, in front of a police officer. Go to the police station and ask for the police report on the incident. If it shows that Mom agreed to pay, then you have a contract with Mom. You can then sue Mom for breach of contract, since she has not paid.

In addition, what you have described would appear to be the crime of "theft by deception" under ORS 164.085:

64.085 Theft by deception. (1) A person, who obtains property of another thereby, commits theft by deception when, with intent to defraud, the person: . . . . . (e) Promises performance that the person does not intend to perform or knows will not be performed.
So go to the police station and file charges against the ex-fiance. Since the amount is over $10,000, it would appear to be a Class C felony, the maximum punishment for which is 5 years in prison.

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Answered on 9/19/10, 5:36 pm


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