Arkansas senator’s roofing job faces police scrutiny – Arkansas Online

FORT SMITH -- State Sen. Jake Files is the subject of a police investigation into an allegation by a city director that Files misspent money paid to him for a roofing job.

The Fort Smith police report dated March 6 was made by City Director Keith Lau and lists the offense as theft by deception of more than $2,500.

In the report, Lau told police that in December he gave Files two checks totaling $33,206 to buy shingles from Home Depot to re-roof seven buildings at the Huntington Chase Apartments at 6400 Massard Road.

One of the seven apartment buildings was roofed with the correct shingles but a second building was roofed with the wrong colored shingles, the police report said.

"We gave him the money and he never gave us the shingles," Lau said Wednesday.

When Lau checked on the progress of the work, he learned the shingles were bought from a discount building supply store, not Home Depot as Files had promised, and that Files paid for the shingles with a check that didn't have sufficient funds to cover it.

When Lau asked Files to return the money, Lau said, Files replied he didn't have it. Lau said in the report to the police that Files gave no explanation.

Lau is the head of KCP Real Estate in Fort Smith and said he was managing the apartment complex for the owner, who lives in California. He said that after reviewing their options, he and the owner decided to file a criminal report rather than a civil lawsuit against Files.

Police detective Sgt. Chad Sutton said the investigation is ongoing but that he hoped to complete it soon. He said he had not interviewed Files as of Wednesday.

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Responding to an email requesting comment, Files, a Republican from Fort Smith who is chairman of the Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee, said he had not been contacted by the police but would have told them he followed the terms of the contract, provided shingles and delivered them to the apartments.

"My subcontractor roofed two buildings and we were never paid for the work we performed," Files wrote in the email. "The shingles on the second building were a slight shade different from the first and we were going to re-roof the first building at our expense so they would match. We never got that opportunity and were never paid for the work that we did."

Lau said Wednesday that he had worked with Files earlier in the year. He said he hired Files in November to re-roof 13 duplexes damaged by hail. He said Files finished that job with no problems.

In the police report, Lau said Files was the lowest of five bidders for the roofing job with a bid of $64,838. Lau wrote the two checks to Files on Dec. 5. On Feb. 1, when no work had begun, Lau said he asked Files for Home Depot invoices to prove that he had spent the money on shingles.

Files never produced the invoices, the report said.

Lau said Wednesday that there were some legitimate reasons why it took so long for the work to begin, such as the holidays and bad weather. Work on the first building began Feb. 8, according to the police report.

That was the day after the city directors voted to terminate their contract with Files and Lee Webb for failing to meet a deadline to complete construction of a complex of eight tournament-quality ball fields called the River Valley Sports Complex on 63 acres of city property at Chaffee Crossing.

Lau said he abstained from the vote because of his business dealings with Files.

Files and Webb had assured city directors in 2014 that they could build the sports complex, estimated at between $4 million and $6 million, for $1.6 million from the city and the rest from donations of materials and labor.

But by early 2017, city directors had lost patience with the two men and their failure to meet multiple deadlines to finish the work.

City directors haven't decided on the next move. They are waiting for the city's internal auditor to complete an assessment of what work has been completed and what remains to be done. The city spent $1.08 million of the $1.6 million on the project so far, and city directors haven't decided whether to go ahead with the project.

Assistant City Administrator Jeff Dingman said Wednesday that it could be another month before the internal auditor's assessment is completed.

The city directors' Feb. 7 resolution terminating the contract also called for Webb and Files to return $26,945 of a $46,500 grant that was given to contractor Dianna Gonzalez, who was affiliated with Files, to extend utilities to the complex site. That grant money came from a General Improvement Fund allocation supported by Files in his position as a state senator.

That money had not been returned as of Wednesday, Dingman said.

With the elimination of Webb and Files from the sports complex project, companies that have done work on the complex have turned to the city for payment. City Administrator Carl Geffken told contractors for the sports complex that the city's agreement was with River Valley Sports Complex and not with them.

Last month four contractors -- B&A Electric Inc., Megehee Fence Contracting LLC., Grimes Dozer Service Inc. and James Griffith -- filed suit in Sebastian County Circuit Court saying that Files and Webb, as the River Valley Sports Complex, were agents of the city and that the sports complex's debt to them of more than $200,000 should revert to the city.

State Desk on 04/13/2017

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Arkansas senator's roofing job faces police scrutiny - Arkansas Online