OGDEN — Weber County sheriff’s deputies have arrested a Kearns man wanted in a series of construction fraud cases along the Wasatch Front.

Deputies on Wednesday booked Loua Toumafi Tupoumalohi, 26, on warrants out of Ogden and West Haven involving incidents in which homeowners allegedly were charged for work not performed or completed.

According to state court records, arrest warrants against Tupoumalohi also were active in Brigham City, Farmington, West Jordan, Provo and American Fork on allegations including theft by deception and contracting without a license.

Judges in an least five courts along the Wasatch Front have issued warrants for Tupoumalohi’s arrest since 2019 after he failed to appear to face charges.

An Ogden Police Department probable cause statement said a 71-year-old Ogden woman in 2019 saw a social media advertisement for concrete construction placed by Tupoumalohi.

He gave her a $6,500 bid for a new driveway and he asked for a $4,900 down payment, which she paid, the statement said.

Before work could begin, the woman’s homeowners’ association vetoed her driveway project and she asked Tupoumalohi for her money back.

After weeks of no response, she called police.

An Ogden detective said in an arrest warrant that Tupoumalohi, who went by his middle name, Toumafi, told the woman he worked for “Top of the Line Concrete.” But the detective said no such company exists in Utah and Tupoumalohi did not have a contracting license with the state.

The Weber County Attorney’s Office charged Tupoumalohi with third-degree felony theft by deception and class A misdemeanor contracting without a license.

Also in June 2019, Tupoumalohi was being investigated by the Weber County Sheriff’s Office in a West Haven case.

A homeowner hired Tupoumalohi to build a patio. Tupoumalohi asked for a 75% down payment and the West Haven man paid him $4,550.

The man told deputies Tupoumalohi tore up some of the yard that day to prepare to lay the patio and said he would return the following week to finish the job.

Tupoumalohi never came back and ignored repeated calls and messages, deputies said in a probable cause statement.

In that case, Tupoumalohi is accused of charges identical to those in the Ogden incident.

The biggest case against Tupoumalohi is pending in 4th District Court in Provo. The Utah County Attorney’s Office lodged a 12-count indictment accusing the man of devising a scheme to offer landscaping or concrete pouring services and carrying it out in 2018-19.

Tupoumalohi would get a substantial deposit from a victim, “do a small amount of work on the project and then disappear,” prosecutors said in charging documents.

Lehi police said in an arrest warrant that one man paid $27,872 to Tupoumalohi for landscaping and contract work.

Tupoumalohi poured one small concrete footing, then dropped out of contact, police said.

The customer never got any money back from Tupoumalohi, an arrest warrant said. Further, the defrauded man said he had two other contractors look at the footing Tupoumalohi had poured and they told him the work was faulty and would have to be dug out.

Three other people in Utah County lost $15,200, $10,000 and $3,900, respectively, in similar incidents, according to charging papers.

Charges in the Utah County cases include six second-degree felony allegations: One count of pattern of unlawful activity, four counts of theft by deception and one count of communications fraud.

The rest of the charges were misdemeanor counts of contracting without a license.

Before engaging a contractor, consumers should check for state licensing, Brian Maxwell, Utah Department of Commerce spokesperson, said Thursday.

At the Utah Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing website, consumers can check whether a contractor is licensed or if they have a disciplinary record.

“If you are asked for significant money down, make sure the contractor is licensed,” Maxwell said. “And if it’s more than you expected, start asking questions.”

He said consumers should ask for a contract with the details on paper.