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Man Accused Of Exploiting And Scamming Elderly Residents

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By VALERIE KALFRIN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 4, 2007

TAMPA - On a holiday celebrating the nation's workers, deputies arrested a Ruskin man, saying he bilked elderly people out of tens of thousands of dollars for home improvements that were never completed.

Clyde T. Fretwell, 37, was held at the Orient Road Jail on $300,000 bail Monday. He surrendered at the jail on felony warrants charging him with grand theft of more than $100,000, exploitation of the elderly, money laundering, contracting without a license and committing a white-collar crime, records show.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said Fretwell is one of five people charged in the same scam. The scam involved persuading a 77-year-old woman and a 74-year-old woman to pay for exorbitant improvements while performing little work, the sheriff's office said.

The group performed the work under three companies: Class A Contractors, LANDA Group and Lifetime Home Improvement, the sheriff's office said.

Also charged in the scam are Joel Hill, 37, of Valrico; Michael G. Richardson, 34, of Bradenton; and Lois D. Lichte, 64, and Ronald G. Lichte, 65, both of Tampa, investigators said.

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