A Florida man was arrested 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.
An investigation by DFS-CID agents found Osborne presented himself as a general contractor and agreed to do 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 house uninhabitable.
Cornelius Sentell Osborne was arrested in Plantation, Florida by Department of Financial Services Criminal Investigations Division officers.
Osborne was on probation at the time of his arrest for willfully fleeing a law enforcement officer in Brevard County. He faces up to 30 years in prison having been charged with one count of grand theft and one count of acting as an unlicensed contractor.
CFO Blaise Ingoglia said the crackdown on fraud is delivering results, bringing criminals to justice and protecting 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 said. “We are cracking down on this kind of criminal activity, especially when it targets those in vulnerable situations. If you think you can get away with this sort of behavior, think again. My office is working tirelessly to bring these fraudsters to justice.”
Florida Chief Financial Officer and State Fire Marshal Blaise Ingoglia serves as the state’s top financial watchdog, a member of the Florida Cabinet, and the head of the Florida Department of Financial Services.
