Crime & Safety

Upper Milford Contractor Took $10K, Did No Work, Police Say

Upper Milford Township man charged with home improvement fraud for the second time this year.

By Daryl Nerl

For the second time this year, an Upper Milford Township man has been charged by Bethlehem police with fraud and theft after taking money to perform contracting work and then failing to even start his task.

Daniel N. Diaz, 43, of 5197 Spruce Road allegedly took $10,000 and agreed to perform nearly $14,000 worth of work, which included installing 84 feet of fence and replacing a retaining wall with a new concrete wall, according to an arrest affidavit.

Diaz made the agreements and took the initial payments from the victim at his Wyandotte Street home in June 2012, the affidavit said. But as of Thursday, police said, none of the work had been done.

According to court records, police asked the victim why he had waited so long to file the complaint. The victim said he thought it was a lost cause until he saw that Bethlehem police had arrested Diaz on similar charges.

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In May, Bethlehem police charged Diaz with failing to finish renovations to a bathroom in northeast Bethlehem after he had received $6,000 in payments to do the work.

According to an arrest affidavit filed then, Diaz acknowledged that he had fallen behind in child support payments and “was robbing Peter to pay Paul” in an effort to catch up on debts.

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Diaz was charged Friday with home improvement fraud, theft and receiving stolen property—all as felonies. He was arraigned before District Judge Roy Manwaring and committed to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $10,000 bail.


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