A Cedar Rapids contractor who scammed victims of the 2020 Iowa derecho pled guilty Thursday in federal court.
48-year old Scott Gregory Adkins, who did business as “Adkins Home Improvements LLC,” was convicted of one count of wire fraud.
In a plea agreement, Adkins admitted that, from December 2020 through March 2022, he devised and perpetrated a scheme to defraud his customers, including victims of the derecho. Adkins organized “Adkins Home Improvements LLC” in October 2020, two months after the derecho. By means of “Adkins Home Improvements LLC,” Adkins offered home repair services to derecho victims, as well as others in the Cedar Rapids area who needed projects completed in the tight-labor, post-derecho construction market.
As a part of his scheme, Adkins offered to provide construction services and materials to prospective customers. He provided estimates to those customers and demanded substantial advance deposits or down payments before undertaking work on the projects. However, instead of completing the projects, Adkins spent some of the advanced funds on personal expenses and transferred other such funds to a family member by means of a mobile payment service. He also made false statements and excuses to his customers about the status of their projects to conceal his illicit use of the funds and to lull his customers into a false sense of security.
Adkins stole over $150,000 as part of his scheme. One of his victims was an elderly widow, who suffered roof damage to her Cedar Rapids home from the derecho.
Adkins faces up to 20 years in prison. Sentencing has not yet been set.
