A Georgia man has been arrested for scheming to swindle several Lake County residents while running a fencing company.
A Lake County Sheriff’s Office detective conducted an extensive investigation which revealed that 42-year-old Christopher Michael Graver had been operating Allstate Fence & Rail LLC in Astatula. Several customers of the fence company complained that they had made down payments for fences which were never delivered. The detective found that Graver had collected $25,611.50 from nine Lake County residents from March 31, 2021 to June 24, 2021 for the installation of residential fences.
When customers complained about the delay in the completion of their fences, Graver told them that there was a delay in getting materials due to Covid or that materials could not be ordered until building permits or HOA approvals were obtained.
When the detective used a subpoena to obtain Graver’s bank records he discovered that the funds collected from the victims were used to pay Graver’s Amex credit card which was used for his personal expenses including air fare, fine dinning and family vacations. After Graver paid off some government loans and had depleted all business accounts Allstate Fence & Rail LLC filed for bankruptcy on Nov. 19, 2021.
An arrest warrant was obtained on Feb. 7 of this year which charged Graver with one count of scheming to defraud more than $20,000 and nine counts of grand theft. Graver was booked on the warrant at the Lake County Jail where he posted $23,000 bond.
