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- Edson Lins, 29, faces multiple charges, including fraud and unlicensed contracting.
- Lins allegedly took over $400,000 for incomplete or unstarted projects in Utah.
WEST JORDAN — A Centerville man who police say is being investigated in multiple cases for allegedly taking large amounts of money for contract work and not completing the projects is facing more criminal charges.
Edson Lins, 29, was charged last week in 3rd District Court with communications fraud, a second-degree felony; and contracting without a license, a class A misdemeanor. Vitor Cruz, 25, of Salt Lake City, is listed as a co-defendant and faces the same charges.
According to charging documents, in October, Lins was paid $30,000 to complete work on a residential yard and basement. The homeowner, however, said the work "was unsatisfactory and not what he had agreed too" and when he brought it up with Lins, "Lins demanded more money to fix the mistakes," the charges state.
"(The homeowner) stated that not only did Lins and Cruz not fix the issues with the yard, but they have not started work on the basement. (An officer) tried contacting Lins and Cruz and has received no response," according to the charges.
Police confirmed during the investigation that Lins did not have a contractor's license at the time. The Utah Division of Professional Licensing also informed officers that Lins is "being investigated in multiple cases in which he accepted large amounts of money to perform work and consistently did not complete the jobs and contracts he entered."
On Oct. 29, Lins was charged in 3rd District Court with theft and communications fraud, second-degree felonies; and contracting without a license, a class A misdemeanor.
In that case, Lins was hired by another West Jordan resident in July to remodel his basement and was paid more than $28,700, according to charging documents. By September, however, the homeowner contacted police "to let them know the work had stopped and that he was no longer able to reach Lins about the completion of the project or to speak with him about refunding him his money."
In August, Lins was charged in 3rd District Court with theft, communications fraud, unlawful use of a bank card and engaging in a pattern of unlawful activity, all second-degree felonies.
In that case, Lins was working for a company and "was responsible for approving budgets and selecting vendors for construction jobs contracted by (the) company, the charges state.
Between April 2023 and March of this year, he approved more than $150,000 in invoices for One Stop Subs, LLC. However, "it was later discovered that no work had been done by One Stop on construction sites" and several project managers "confirmed that they had never seen anyone from the company at any construction sites," charging documents state.
A records check then revealed Lins owned One Stop Subs, the charges state.
It was also discovered that, during the same time, Lins spent more than $112,000 on the company credit card "for several unapproved transactions, including electric vehicle charging stations. Lins never provided invoices or receipts to support any of the transactions from the company credit card. Lins continued to use the company credit card after being issued a cease-and-desist letter," according to the charges.
Furthermore, prosecutors say he requested a $56,000 advance pay loan to set up a construction job that was later found to be nonexistent.
Lins now faces a total of seven felony charges and two misdemeanors in three cases and is accused of pocketing more than $400,000 for work that was either never completed or never started.
