A Florida man was taken into custody for acting as an unlicensed contractor.
Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia recently announced the arrest of Cornelius Sentell Osborne, who was accused of acting as an unlicensed contractor and pocketing $174,000 from the victim of a house fire in South Florida.
DFS-CID agents found that Osborne presented himself as a general contractor and agreed to restoration work on a fire-damaged home in Hollywood, Florida. After collecting $174,000 from the victim, Osborne allegedly abandoned the project after several months, leaving the victim’s home uninhabitable.
Cornelius Sentell Osborne was detained in Plantation, Florida, by officers from the Department of Financial Services Criminal Investigations Division.
Osborne was on probation at the time of his arrest for evading a law enforcement officer in Brevard County. He faces up to 30 years in jail after being charged with one count of grand theft and one count of operating as an unlicensed contractor.
According to CFO Blaise Ingoglia, the fraud campaign is producing results, including the prosecution of offenders and the protection of Florida’s most vulnerable.
“This case is a direct result of my office’s relentless work to root out fraud in our state and hold bad actors accountable,” Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia stated. “We are cracking down on this type of illegal conduct, particularly when it targets people in vulnerable positions. If you believe you can get away with this type of behavior, think again. My office is working hard to bring these criminals to justice.”
Florida Chief Financial Officer and State Fire Marshal Blaise Ingoglia is the state’s chief financial watchdog, a member of the Florida Cabinet, and the head of the Florida Department of Financial Services.
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