Скачать или смотреть FOX 11 Investigates: Builder is subject of dispute over money by contractors

At least seven different people or companies say the owner of a Brown County, Wisconsin, home remodeling company owes them money.

That business owner was the subject of an FBI probe a few years ago. It ended with one of his previous companies admitting it knowingly defrauded its customers.

The attorney for the business owner tells FOX 11 the current business disputes shouldn't be connected to the previous criminal case.

Operating out of his shop in Pound, Dennis Lepinski says he’s owed more than $10,000 for a semi load of his insulated concrete forms. It was delivered to a Waupaca construction site in April to someone Lepinski says he had success with on a few smaller projects.

Lepinski says Chad Schampers, owner of Top Ranked LLC, is who owes him. You might remember Schampers from when he owned Summit Contracting.

In February 2022, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Schampers and three others were all charged with nine counts of wire fraud and a charge of conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud.

Authorities said they caused a loss of $1.5 million because of their fraud. They faced decades of prison time and steep fines -- one charge carrying a fine of up to $1 million.

However, the charges were eventually dropped against the individuals after a judge agreed to a hearing to determine whether a search warrant of their construction office was performed without proper probable cause.

Instead, a plea agreement was reached, putting the responsibility on Schampers’ company, Summit Contracting. Schampers signed off on Summit pleading guilty to one count of wire fraud and paying $89,791.15 in restitution to be divided between 11 parties.

FOX 11 asked Schampers for an interview. He put us in contact with his attorney, Mark Maciolek. We asked Maciolek if he knows whether Lepinski’s claim is true.

Maciolek says Lepinski’s beef shouldn’t be with Schampers.

Lepinski says he didn’t find out Chad’s last name was Schampers until he contacted an attorney to try to get his money. FOX 11 asked Lepinski what he thought when he learned of Schampers’ past.

Court records show Lepinski is one of six entities to file court cases this year seeking money from Schampers. Three of the cases received judgements, with Schampers owing the parties a total of $25,160.60.

Two of the cases are unresolved. One contractor is seeking at least $69,000 for a down payment on work that was never started. The other is a company seeking an amount to be determined at trial based off about $131,000 of work that government officials determined to be deficient and non-compliant, according to court documents.

The final case, a company seeking $10,000, was dismissed after a settlement was reached. However, an attorney for the company tells FOX 11 Schampers still hasn’t paid $5,000, despite several attempts the last few months to recover the money.

Another person, who wishes to remain anonymous, tells FOX 11 Schampers owes him more than $10,000 -- and he’s considering legal remedies, as well.

FOX 11 asked Maciolek if he thinks the six filed cases are a lot for one year.

FOX 11 also asked Maciolek if his claim of vindication means authorities' allegation of Summit Contracting causing $1.5 million worth of fraud losses wasn’t true.

When we first talked to Schampers, he told us to check Top Ranked’s reviews online. On Google, there are 90 reviews with a 4.6 rating out of 5 stars.

Full story: https://fox11online.com/news/fox-11-i...

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