Minnesota contractor charged with felony theft after a bounced $11,000 check to his sub
A 34-year-old Minnesota contractor faces felony theft-by-contractor and worthless-check charges in Polk County, Wis. The criminal complaint alleges he took more than $40,000 in advance for a job in Luck, wrote a subcontractor an $11,000 check that bounced and billed the homeowner's insurer nearly $100,000, DrydenWire reported.
DrydenWire reported the Polk County Circuit Court case on Nov. 6, citing court records. The defendant owns Brothers Construction LLC of Cromwell, Minn. According to the report, the complaint describes a dispute over the project, with conflicting accounts of how much work was done, unpaid subcontractor costs and discrepancies in the final bill. The sheriff's office received the first report about the job in July 2025. The charges are allegations and have not been proven; no plea was reported.
Wisconsin's theft-by-contractor provision, section 779.02(5) of the state statutes, makes money an owner pays a prime contractor or subcontractor for an improvement a trust fund until everyone owed for labor, services and materials on that job is paid. Spending it on anything else first, except amounts in good-faith dispute, is theft punishable under the general theft statute. When the contractor is an LLC or corporation, the officers or members responsible for the misuse can be charged as well.
The check charge falls under section 943.24, which makes a single check over $2,500 written with intent that it not be paid a Class I felony. If the writer lacked funds and does not pay within five days after written notice of dishonor, the statute treats that as prima facie evidence of the intent. The report does not say whether the subcontractor or the homeowner has since been paid.
Why it matters: In Wisconsin, a customer's deposit is not the contractor's money until the subs and suppliers on that job are paid. A sub holding a bounced check should mail written notice of dishonor right away: it starts the five-day clock the statute treats as evidence.