A 29-year-old man was charged today with scamming a 61-year-old victim out of thousands of dollars for allegedly worthless tree trimming and home repairs.
The man, Charles Boswell, was arrested at the victim’s home late last week by investigators from the Denver district attorney’s Economic Crime Unit after a bank employee reported a suspicious transaction.
Boswell was charged with theft from an at-risk adult, a class three felony and is being held on $75,000 bail at the Denver County Jail.
According to an arrest affidavit, Boswell, who had been recently released from a Utah jail, approached the victim on April 14 and said his trees needed trimming.
Investigators said Boswell and several companions started working in the victim’s yard and also told the victim they would pull a stump and clean and repair his gutters.
At no time, said the victim, did the men indicate how much the work would cost. He thought it might be as much as $1,500, but the men demanded $2,200.
Investigators said that the following day, the men unexpectedly reappeared and began spreading a thin concrete patching material around the victim’s home without his permission.
They then demanded between $6,000 and $7,000 more from the man. The victim, according to the affidavit, told Boswell he didn’t have that kind of money.
Lynn Kimbrough, spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office, said the homeowner wrote another check, but an alert teller at Key Bank declined to cash it.
Boswell then took the victim to another bank, where the victim withdrew $4,500 in cash from a line of credit.
In the meantime, Key Bank personnel contacted the DA’s office and investigators immediately went to the victim’s home, according to the affidavit.
Near the home on West 33rd Avenue, investigators spotted two white Chevrolet trucks with Arizona license plates.
During the interview, the victim identified Charles Boswell as the man he had given the $2,200 check and the $4,500 in cash.
According to court documents, the DA’s office contacted a number of experts, who said the tree trimming work performed amounted to $90 and that the thin concrete patching work done was virtually worthless.
Prosecutors contend that the cleaning and repair work to the gutters was never done.
When questioned by investigators, Boswell claimed he had met with his probation officer in Utah and had been given permission to travel to Colorado to work.
Boswell denied receiving the $2,200 check from the alleged victim or $4,500 in cash. The trucks with the Arizona plates were seized.
The Denver DA’s office claimed that Boswell was involved in a “travelers-type scam.”
Two weeks ago, Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey, Attorney General John Suthers and Jefferson County District Attorney Scott Storey had warned about the “travelers.”
They normally spend their winters in warm climates where they prey on people, primarily the elderly, with home-repair scams. But as the weather warms, they head north.
The Denver DA’s fraud line is 720-913-9179, and the Denver Police Department can be reached at 720-913-2000. AARP ElderWatch, which works with the Colorado Attorney General, can be reached at 800-222-4444.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
