So as to not dwell on the negative three articles on this subject are included in this one post. The first two articles are recent while the last one is dated one year ago. Each article has duplicate details but some different information too.
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Bend solar contractor charged in million-dollar theft case
Victims include homeowners, high-profile local businesses
By Nick Budnick – The Bulletin – September 17, 2009
A Bend renewable-energy systems contractor who for years has been accused of shoddy work, unkept promises and worse was taken into custody Wednesday following his arraignment on 29 counts of theft, unlicensed construction work and racketeering.
Eric “Gabe” Wisehart, 38, was booked into the Deschutes County jail on $500,000 bail and was being held there Wednesday evening. He has not yet entered a plea, and his lawyer could not be reached for comment.
Deschutes County District Attorney Mike Dugan said, “This is a very large and (detailed) fraud, theft-type case that has probably in excess of $1 million of fraud. There are numerous, numerous victims not only inside Deschutes County but outside Deschutes County.”
Wisehart did business under the name New Path Renewables, Pac-Wind OR LLC and Solect Systems Inc. The indictment, which was issued Monday, describes a pattern of theft and theft by deception since 2004 committed against more than two-dozen customers. It expands upon documents filed in Deschutes County Circuit Court last year when detectives raided the house Wisehart shared with his wife, Sonia. His wife has not been indicted.
The documents accuse Wisehart of having repeatedly promised to install solar or wind-power equipment while collecting full or partial payment up front. Then, he frequently never completeed the job.
At times, he is accused of completing the job, only to return later to remove without permission equipment that he’d already installed.
Wisehart’s alleged victims include some well-known Central Oregon firms such as Pronghorn, Aspen Lakes Golf Course and Jeld-Wen, the developer of Brasada Ranch.
The list also includes people like Sandy Veeck, 68, who hired Wisehart in April 2006 to install solar panels on her east Bend home.
It took eight to 10 months and “a lot of harassment on my part” to get the panels installed, Veeck said, and then the work kept flunking inspection by the county. Finally, she hired another company that fixed the problems in a single day, she said.
She said she is out $12,000 and likened Wisehart’s business pattern to a “pyramid” scheme in which later customers’ payments were used to fund work on previous customers.
“This guy is smooth,” said Veeck, who said she is now undergoing expensive chemotherapy. “I am unemployed and a widow. I have not got infinite funds; I need every dollar like everybody else today.”
Cathy Jensen, of northwest Bend, who said she and her husband are out about $8,000, said that Wisehart’s victims were those hoping to be pioneers in advancing a more sustainable future.
“He was a very cool operator,” she said.
Kelli Hewitt, co-owner of another Bend solar-energy contractor, E2 Powered, said her firm has been called in to repair or complete as many as 12 renewable-energy projects that Wisehart had started.
She said Wisehart was well-known in the industry and had been at the forefront of the solar boom starting about five years ago.
“I would say in Bend he was very well-known, and I would say it’s not just Bend; he’s done systems throughout Oregon and probably in California and Washington as well.
“We’re too small of an industry and too new to fight those kinds of stigmas,” she said of the allegations against Wisehart, which she called “unfortunate.”
Between 2001 and 2007, he was suspended four times by the state Construction Contractors Board for a number of violations including “dishonest or fraudulent conduct,” according to the agency. In January 2008, the board refused to reissue his license based on at least 16 complaints, including for dishonest and fraudulent behavior.
He owes the board about $40,000 for claims filed by past clients, according to the board’s Web site.
Wisehart was first arrested one year ago, in September 2008, when detectives with the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant on his home. Court documents show that detectives also seized computers and other equipment.
Deschutes County Chief Deputy District Attorney Darryl Nakahira said the investigation has been long and involved because of the need to analyze computers, as well as the decision to prosecute him for racketeering, a criminal statute originally written for organized crime and which alleges an enterprise based on a pattern of criminal activity.
To assist in the case, Dugan and Nakahira requested assistance from the Oregon Department of Justice and state Attorney General John Kroger.
In a news release Wednesday, Kroger said, “Oregon needs green jobs, not green crime.”
Wisehart is scheduled to return to court to enter a plea Sept. 30.
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Bend solar contractor indicted on $1.5 million in thefts
Largest fraud case in Deschutes County history, DA says
KTVZ.COM news sources – September 16, 2009
A year after his initial arrest, a Bend solar contractor appeared in court and was ordered jailed Wednesday on an indictment accusing him of stealing more than $1.5 million in solar panels and renewable energy equipment from over two-dozen former clients.
Oregon Attorney General John Kroger and Deschutes County District Attorney Mike Dugan said the 29-count indictment alleges that contractor Eric Robert “Gabe” Wisehart, 37, returned to job sites and stole more than $1.5 million in property.
Wisehart did business as New Path Renewables, PacWind-Or LLC and Solect Systems Inc. Victimized clients included homeowners, the Ray’s Food Place on Bend’s Westside, and the Pronghorn and Brasada Ranch golf resorts, authorities said.
Wisehart appeared Wednesday morning before Circuit Judge Michael Sullivan, who ordered him jailed on $500,000 bail pending another court appearance and possible plea entry in two weeks.
“This is the largest fraud case in Deschutes County history. and it represents how local law enforcement and the Attorney General can work together to crack down on consumer fraud,” said Dugan. “I look forward to working with the Attorney General Kroger to hold Gabe Wisehart accountable.”
“The indictment alleges that Wisehart stole solar panels and renewable energy equipment,” said Kroger. “Oregon needs green jobs, not green crime.”
The 29-count indictment accuses Eric Robert “Gabe” Wisehart of stealing property valued at $10,000 to $900,000.
The charges include accusations that Wisehart returned to job sites and unlawfully removed his former clients’ property, including solar panels and other renewable energy equipment.
The case is being prosecuted by Deschutes County Chief Deputy District Attorney Darryl Nakahira, Deputy District Attorney Evander McIver and Senior Assistant Attorney General Andrew Campbell.
The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office and the Oregon Department of Justice Criminal Justice Division are conducting an ongoing investigation into additional alleged financial improprieties by Wisehart.
A year ago, sheriff’s detectives said Wisehart bilked customers out of thousands of dollars when he didn’t finish solar and renewable energy projects.
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The initial allegations as reported September 17, 2008 are below:
Bend solar contractor ripped off many, police say
Police raid home, seek public’s help in finding victims
By Nina Mehlhaf and Barney Lerten, KTVZ.COM – September 17, 2008
Arrested but not yet booked into jail, a Bend contractor is awaiting the final tally of charges he’ll face for theft.
Deschutes County sheriff’s detectives say Eric Grybyal Wisehart, 37, or “Gabe” as he’s better known, bilked customers out of thousands of dollars when he didn’t finish solar and renewable projects.
Detectives are now going through records on the Oregon Construction and Contractors Board Website.
Wisehart owes nearly $37,000 just in penalties and civil dispute payments for work complaints dating back to 2001. The unlicensed contractor and owner of New Path Renewables, a solar panel and renewable energy business in Bend, has been hit with violations of dishonest and fraudulent business practices.
But it turned criminal when those victims started calling the sheriff’s office with the same accusations.
Authorities say Wisehart would take tens of thousands of dollars of their money for something like a solar panel project, do it halfway, then take off.
“There were large sums of money put up front with an inability to pay it back and based on the number of times this occurred, we believe it went beyond bad business practices,” Sgt. Michael Espinoza said Wednesday.
Nobody answered the door Wednesday at Wisehart’s Woodside North Drive home in southeast Bend Wednesday.
Neighbors NewsChannel 21 spoke with were surprised to hear the news, calling him a nice family man. But some others in the solar power industry around town say Wisehart’s a legend, and it was just a matter of time before he got caught.
“We’ve certainly known about this for awhile, but it’s frustrating because we’re trying to run an ethical business here and take care of our customers,” said Chance Currington of Sunlight Solar Energy Inc. in Bend.
“This is something specific to our industry and gives (businesses like) us a bad name, and we don’t like that at all,” he said.
To avoid becoming a victim, Currington says get the contractor’s CCB license number and check it to see if they’re bonded and insured. And get phone numbers of past clients to see if they were satisfied.
Authorities say this kind of alleged fraud is getting worse because of the bad housing market and economy.
“It’s hard to say negative things about someone so charismatic that people do like and like to be around,” Currington said. “But at the same time, you can’t do that to people, and it’s come around full circle now.”
To check and see if your contractor is legit, you can log onto the state Construction Contractor Board’s Website at www.oregon.gov/ccb and look up their name and status.
If you believe you were a victim of this fraud, sheriff’s detectives want to talk to you. You can call them at (541) 617-3393.
Gabe Wisehart will remain out of jail until the investigation is done and the final charges are tallied up. Most likely, he will face a grand jury indictment.
Sheriff’s detectives executed a search warrant around 8 a.m. Tuesday at the Wisehart’s home, Espinoza said in a news release, adding that he will face “multiple counts of aggravated theft.”
An investigation began several months ago, after the sheriff’s office received several complaints that Wisehart had defrauded customers around Oregon and Washington since 2001, Espinoza said.
Wisehart operated several renewable-energy companies that authorities allege he used to defraud potential customers: New Path Renewables Inc. (NPRI), New Earth Works Inc., Pacwind LLC and Select Systems, Inc., Espinoza said.
The charges claim Wisehart sold customers solar and renewable-energy systems that were never completed, leading to complaints to the sheriff’s office and the Oregon Construction Contractors Board.
Because the investigation is still under way, Espinoza said he could not detail the number of victims or money involved as of yet, but said “multiple victims have been defrauded of large sums of money for these systems.”
Espinoza told KTVZ.COM that Wisehart was not immediately jailed because authorities want to “work with him” on the allegations, adding that he “cannot operate like he was” in the meantime.
“Even though the investigation is not over, we wanted to get information out before anyone else would be victimized financially,” the sergeant said.
While the investigation is pending, Espinoza added that no other suspects are expected to be charged in the case.
“We don’t anticipate this expanding any further than the businesses we’re investigating” and have identified publicly, he said
