‘Habitual liar’: Rockford-area contractor spent investments on vehicles, yacht club, victim says
ROCKFORD, Mich. (WOOD) — A man who lost more than $150,000 to a crooked contractor's investment scheme took a moment to exhale outside the Lansing federal building Monday morning.
"I've been waiting for this day for years," he said. "It settles me. It's a big weight off my shoulders."
Tom asked that Target 8 not use his full name for privacy reasons, but he made sure to show his face at Matthew Mencarelli's plea hearing in federal court.
'I'm guilty': Rockford-area contractor pleads in $1.7 million scheme
"He knew I was present, and I feel that I was representing the other victims who couldn't be here," said Tom, talking to Target 8 after Monday's hearing before U.S. District Judge Hala Y. Jarbou.
Mencarelli, a Rockford-area builder, pleaded guilty Monday to seven counts of wire fraud, admitting he scammed six people out of $720,000 by convincing them to "invest" in phony projects.
In the government's trial brief, federal prosecutors reported Mencarelli's scam actually brought in more than double that; the owner of Matthew's Woodworking, now 38, had raked in approximately $1.7 million from more than a dozen victims in total, according to court records.
"He's a habitual liar," said Tom of Mencarelli. "It's part of who he is. It's how he was able to get away with these (fake) investments."
Tom, 62, lives in Illinois, but he's been spending summer vacations at Macatawa Bay Yacht Club near Holland since he was ten years old.
"You grow up, get to know families and gain trust," Tom explained.
One of those families was named Mencarelli.
Feds: Rockford-area contractor's 'investment' scheme netted $718,000
"This started based on friendship and trust and (Mencarelli's) personal knowledge of myself and a lot of the other victims," said Tom.
That's why Tom did not feel the need to fully vet the investment opportunity Mencarelli offered him in 2017.
"Through family trust and knowledge, and his father was in the construction business before and had done very well," said Tom, recalling that Mencarelli told him he was seeking investors for a high-return municipal project in Traverse City.
According to court records, Mencarelli told other victims he, or people with whom he worked, had secured a contract to install fiber optic lines in the northern Michigan town.
It wasn't until Mencarelli offered endless excuses instead of promised payouts that Tom called Traverse City in 2020 to check.
"Did they know Matthew Mencarelli?" Tom recalled asking a city official. "Are they doing business with him? Are there any permits pulled? Nobody knew anything and that's when I realized that this was bogus."
Tom told Target 8 he notified Mencarelli's parents about the scam.
"I warned them what was going on to see if they could help the situation and maybe hold him accountable," recalled Tom. (But) since the time they knew, it had only gotten worse ... It was becoming a bigger and bigger scheme. Nobody was holding him accountable, and I felt that I needed to do that."
Tom and several other victims won civil judgements against Mencarelli and began working with the FBI and U.S. Attorney of the Western District of Michigan.
Target 8: Rockford-area contractor accused of taking cash, not delivering
"The U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI did a fantastic job, and he couldn't get himself out of the corner," explained Tom, noting that Mencarelli had been living far beyond his means.
In court Monday, Assistant United States Attorney Stephen P. Baker told the judge the only project in which Mencarelli actually invested his victims' money was his own newly constructed home near Rockford.
"Luxury vehicles, a custom-built house, yacht club membership," said Tom, listing Mencarelli's ill-gotten assets. "Vacations during this whole time. My friends would see him on Facebook on vacation, kite surfing. They're like, 'Tom, he's in Florida.'"
In November 2021, Target 8 investigators confronted Mencarelli after he took $9,000 from the Agar family of Rockford to remodel their basement into an apartment for their son, Johnny, who has cerebral palsy.
When Mencarelli failed to deliver, a big-hearted group of builders, up to fifty people in all, stepped in to renovate the basement at no cost to the Agars.
'Christmas miracle' after contractor allegedly ripped off Rockford family
The donor who spearheaded the effort did not want to be named, but the gift the Agar's called a "Christmas Miracle" made the "Today" show on NBC .
The Agar's story was a bright spot amid some dark days for Tom.
"It touched my heart," Tom said of the donors' gift to the Agars. "I knew when you were reporting that this was going on, and it was a bigger thing. The (Agar case) was just the tip of the iceberg."
Tom said he was stunned by Mencarelli's brazen scheme.
"Never once did he tell me that any of the projects were going south, going bad. It was always positive," recalled Tom.
When Tom was due dividends, he said Mencarelli had a line for everything.
"'I'm in a meeting. I'll call you back,' said Tom of Mencarelli's excuses. "The bogus wire transfer form that he tried to send me. The FedEx packages with a check that was falsified. ... It angered me. I was pretty mad."
Tom likened the experience to a marathon that's finally nearing its end.
"I think people need to know that this is present in our world today," said Tom, "and that they should be very careful in making investments and do their due diligence and maybe vet them a little more."
Rockford-area no-show contractor arrested, jailed
There are efforts underway to try to recover money lost, and Mencarelli's sentencing is set for Feb. 25, 2025 in Lansing.
He'll be required to pay restitution to victims and could do some prison time.
The U.S. Attorney's office told Target 8 that Mencarelli pleaded to the indictment with no sentencing agreement in place.
The maximum penalty for federal wire fraud is 20 years in prison and/or a $250,000 fine, or two times the money gained from the offense, whichever is greater. Mencarelli is free on bond pending sentencing.
