A federal grand jury in Denver indicted the owner and nine current and former employees of a general contracting company Tuesday, accusing them of inflating costs by up to 30 percent on the restoration of homes and offices damaged by fire and flooding.
Denver-based Disaster Restoration Inc. owner Michael Arthur Griggs and nine others were charged with conspiracy, mail fraud and interference with commerce by threats or violence.
The indictment alleges that between the fall of 2003 and early 2007, the defendants instructed DRI subcontractors to provide the company with two billing documents.
One inflated the costs, and the other did not, authorities allege. DRI allegedly paid the contractors based on the noninflated bill and submitted the inflated bill to insurers, pocketing the difference.
