Contractor accused of theft, fraud

A Dubach contractor has been arrested and accused of theft and home improvement fraud in Lincoln, Ouachita and Union parishes and Acadia Parish in southern Louisiana.

Luke Allen Thompson, 34, owner of ABP Enterprises, has been arrested in Union Parish and charged with home improvement fraud with bond set at $15,000. Since his first arrest Nov. 1, another warrant has been issued for his arrest on the same charge, Sheriff Dusty Gates said.

Thompson is currently being held in the Ouachita Correctional Center on bonds totaling $450,000 for similar incidents that have occurred in Ouachita, Gates said.

In Ouachita Parish, Thompson is charged with five counts of felony theft and four counts of misappropriation of funds. He was arrested Tuesday in Ouachita Parish. Gates also said the suspect is wanted on similar charges in Lincoln and Acadia parishes.

In the first Union Parish case, the victim signed a contract with Thompson to construct a $24,000 building on his property and paid the contractor $11,750 up front so he could begin construction.

The victim told investigators that he signed the contract with Thompson in June and paid him the up-front money. Detectives said the victim’s check was cashed June 22 by Thompson. After that date, the victim made numerous attempts to contact Thompson and after failing to do so, finally reported the situation to the sheriff’s office September 28.

In the second Union Parish case, which was reported Nov. 6, the victim signed a contract July 16 with Thompson to build a shop on his property and paid up-front money of $17,337. Detectives said dirt work was performed by another contractor that was hired by Thompson, but the suspect never showed up to construct the shop.

The victim also told detectives that the suspect had not paid the dirt contractor. Detectives said the victim tried numerous times to contact Thompson and even went to the company’s listed address, which was found to be fictitious.