EDINBURGH, Ind. -- The owner and operator of a fencing company out of Edinburgh has been charged with fraud after she collected more than $100,000 from individuals and did not provide the product.
According to court documents filed in Bartholomew County, Jami Graham was charged with 12 counts of fraud where the loss is between $750 and $50,000, a Level 6 felony. Each count represented a complaint a customer of Fence Boss, LLC brought forward against Graham.
Various law enforcement agencies, including the Columbus Police Department, the Bartholomew County Sheriff's Office and the Greensburg Police Department, received several reports of theft and fraud involving Fence Boss, LLC. Through the 12 complaints, the company received $103,438.51 and none of the customers reportedly received their fences.
During the investigation, officials found that Graham never ordered the materials or provided services that the company received payments for.
Graham reportedly gave a number of excuses for not completing the work, including family emergencies, supplier issues, being short-staffed, severe weather and COVID-19. In October, Graham reportedly filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
In one particular case, a woman paid the company more than $18,000 for a fence in Columbus. The documents said that Graham reportedly informed the woman that there was a death at the factory where they ordered materials, delaying the fence's construction.
Investigators spoke with a number of former employees of Fence Boss, LLC. One employee told investigators that Graham would take the payments from customers and use it to cover payroll, as well as back payroll taxes, house payments, medical expenses and personal expenses.
Another employee said that during her first 90 days of employment, she "'saw the writing on the wall,' regarding the company's money situation. The employee said that she would not get paid sometimes.
"(The employee) said something along the lines of. '(Graham) would basically rob Peter to pay Paul, but it was never rob peter to pay Paul within the business,'" the employee told investigators.
According to the documents, the same employee reportedly told Graham that she needed to shut Fence Boss, LLC down because she could not pay employees, not pay taxes, not complete contracts and had checks bouncing.
The employee also said that Graham would lock the company's office doors if they saw a customer who had already paid pull in, stressing that people would reportedly pound on the door.