Metro-east concrete business accused of fraud in lawsuit
A lawsuit recently filed in St. Clair County by the state attorney general accuses a metro-east concrete business of swindling residents “out of thousands of dollars” worth of work.
Attorney General Lisa Madigan announced the lawsuit in a press release Monday afternoon, naming David Malmberg, of Belleville, and DTM Concrete & Stamping. The lawsuit alleges violations of the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act and the Home Repair and Remodeling Act.
A phone call made to DTM Concrete Monday afternoon was met with an automated message noting that the business number was “not a working number.” A request for comment sent to an email address provided on the business’s website was not immediately returned.
Consumers reportedly hired Malmberg to replace old concrete with new stamped concrete. The attorney general’s lawsuit accuses Malmberg of requiring homeowners to pay the project’s full cost up front, which Madigan said violated contracts in many cases. The lawsuit said Malmberg started work without completing projects, and in other instances, left consumers with “shoddy and substandard” work.
“Consumers need to know that they have the right to wait until work is completed to their satisfaction before making final payments to a contractor,” Madigan said in the press release.
Consumers who reported complaints to Madigan’s office and the Better Business Bureau lost nearly $11,000, according to the press release. Madigan’s lawsuit asked the court to ban Malmberg from doing business in Illinois, require restitution to impacted consumers and impose civil penalties.
Malmberg and DTM Concrete have been accused of cheating customers in the past, according to previous reports. The BBB reported last July that several homeowners filed complaints after alleging that Malmberg “took payments for work” and “abandoned the projects” earlier in 2015. According to BBB and Madigan, DTM Concrete was previously known as Riverview Concrete and Saint Louis Concrete Stamping Co.
Madigan asked consumers who believe they may have been defrauded by Malmberg, DTM Concrete & Stamping, Riverview Concrete or Saint Louis Concrete Stamping Co. to file a consumer complaint through the attorney general’s website atccformsubmission.ilattorneygeneral.net or to contact the Consumer Fraud Hotline in Springfield at 1-800-243-0618 or in Carbondale at 1-800-243-0607.