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Builder charged with ripping off sub contractor

Authorities have charged a North Jersey developer who once built multi-million-dollar mansions with stiffing a sub-contractor for $262,000 that he promised a judge he would pay by this week for masonry and other work on several job sites.

Photo Credit: Cliffview Pilot

Scott Forbes

Scott A. Forbes, 41, who has homes in Upper Saddle River and at the Jersey Shore, was being held on $150,000 at the Bergen County Jail, following his arrest Wednesday afternoon.

Forbes, who has built dozens of homes in Bergen County, has filed for bankruptcy. But prosecutors have charged the Park Ridge native with theft after he failed to make good on an agreement in criminal court that he would pay back what he owes.

The victim got four checks from Forbes for work at three different sites from July 5, 2007 through March 4, 2009, Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli said. The largest was $187,000 for masonry work.

All bounced, the prosecutor said.

“The victim said that he contacted Scott Forbes and made him aware that these checks had bounced and Scott Forbes assured him that he would make good on them,” Molinelli said.

Prosecutors allowed Forbes to enter a pre-trial intervention program last year, with the provision that he satisfy the debts. Had he done so, he wouldn’t have had a criminal record.

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