Edhat Staff
By edhat staff
The owner of a local construction company has been sentenced to 9 years and 4 months in prison for fraud on Thursday.
Mark John Melchiori owned Melchiori Construction Company and pled guilty last year to one count of felony diversion of construction funds, one count of felony prevailing wage fraud, and one count of felony unlawful money transmission. Melchiori also admitted a special allegation that the amount taken was in excess of $100,000 and an aggravated white-collar crime enhancement that the amount he took was in excess of $500,000.
The charges stemmed from a complaint by Robert Zemeckis, a film director, screenwriter, and Acadamy Award-winning director. Zemeckis stated he paid Melchiori Construction Company $500,000 in 2012 to remodel his home, but Melchiori illegally used the money for his own purposes. Zemeckis testified that due to Melchiori’s fraud and failure to pay subcontractors, a lien was placed on his causing causing total damages closer to $1 million.
Melchiori was also accused of misappropriating $10 million from his company and using the funds to purchase a $2 million house, luxury vehicles, and host lavish parties.
With the assistance of both the California Department of Insurance and the California Department of Industrial Relations, the District Attorney’s Office also found that Melchiori had been underpaying his workers on public works projects to finance his lifestyle and that he had been funneling money through various companies to cover up his crimes.
Judge Jim Herman sentenced Melchiori to the maximum sentence of 9 years and 4 months.
Related Articles
- October 19, 2019: Construction Company Owner Pleads Guilty to Fraud
Compare and contrast what misdeeds it took to get a 9 year jail sentence in Santa Barbara (Mark Melchiori) to what misdeeds it took to get a 9 year jail sentence thrown at you in Wash DC (Roger Stone).
… and reduced to 3.3 years.
White collar crime in this country is usually dealt with by a “slap on the wrists” by the current judicial system. It’s getting rapidly worse too in this country. “SAD”
Thank you, Mr. Zemeckis for coming forth…..
and 1’s time to see it thru.
A con artist gone
air is sweeter
heart lighter
a pollution dimming
kind of attacks to soul
and surf
jj
Interesting that Zemeckis hired him in *2012.* By that time, Melchiori Construction was well-known in a bad way for things like the UCSB Ocean Science building the company was fired from and the SB County Emergency Ops building; wasn’t his reputation already basically trash in SB? At least look at the red flags, do a google search for news articles and run anyone you’re considering hiring through contractor licensing board web sites.
If it is true that “white collar” crime usually gets a slap on the wrist, why then is Melchiori’s sentence the maximum?
Check the meaning of the word “usually” in the dictionary.
Please get someone to introduce you to the concept of “critical thinking skills.” No one has either the time or space to do this for you here.
What a shame. His father worked hard, built the company and was honest. High-living on someone else’s funds seems to be a problem for some who grow up as very privileged children w/o having to put anything in. It happens in not-so-wealthy families, too. Unless responsibility & work ethic are taught as linked to benefits to children, benefits become entitlements in adults who lack moral fiber.
Myself and 60 other homeowners were recently victims of a similar crime. Riverwood Cabins took 50% deposits on the modular homes that they did not deliver after filling for chapter 7. They are now offering $3,000 per costumer. I lost $170,000. The bankruptcy courts accept this sort of deal. I am paying a loan for 20 years for this deposit, which Kent Lapp took and used it. He goes free and I keep paying the loan for nothing. How is this justice? Beware, our legal system favors the business, not the consumer in these cases. Even our president has done this 4 times and messed up the lives of many poorer people who could not afford to lose money.
Is this Kent Lapp from Riverwood the same as the one who puts out “Salt and Fire”? I don’t trust those people myself. Too much self-promotion, not enough personal American good values.
Two facts of life that people simply can’t get a hold of it seems:
1. Business corporations can escape their financial obligations by simply walking away. This includes bankruptcy. The purpose of incorporating is to allow this to happen. It is by design.
2. Government cannot simply walk away.
So when advocates for “privatization” of government functions push their schemes on us we need to remember who will be their when the schemes go wrong.