Blake Mahoney, the owner of MO State Construction, was arrested Thursday morning and charged with deceptive business practices and the financial exploitation of elderly and/or disabled people.
Mahoney, 28, and his construction company are accused of failing to follow through on contracted work despite receiving money upfront for the jobs.
The Better Business Bureau has received eight complaints over the past three years about Mahoney and MO State Construction’s failure to deliver on its promised services. Four of these complaints have been in the past 12 months.
According to Better Business Bureau files, a Columbia woman reported that she hired the contractor in 2020 to replace her roof and siding. She paid $8,000 to the business in two installments, but the woman said the project was abandoned after she submitted the second check.
A woman from Gravois Mills told the Better Business Bureau she hired the company in 2019 to build a garage and do excavation work on her property near the Lake of the Ozarks. She paid the company $25,000, but only some excavation work was done before the builder left and kept the down payment.
Complaints to the bureau reveal a pattern of taking payment from clients for materials that were never delivered, failing to communicate and not issuing refunds.
In February 2021, the bureau gave MO State Construction the lowest grade available: F. It has warned Columbia residents to avoid using Mahoney’s services because of the history of unfinished construction projects.
Mahoney’s
next hearing is scheduled for Feb. 7. He is being held in the Boone
County Jail, and his bail has been set at $100,000 cash.
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