Missouri Attorney General Charges Roofing Contractors with Fraud

The owners of a now-defunct roofing business have been charged in relation to allegations of contractor fraud.

In a release, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced that Zachary Cox and Anna Wiesler, who ran Stella Roofing, have been charged in St. Louis County. The charges allege that Cox and Wiesler falsely promised homeowners that they would perform roof repair and window replacement services in exchange for a partial upfront payment.

Despite being paid, Cox and Wiesler failed to provide work or materials to homeowners.

The Missouri Attorney General’s Office previously filed a separate civil suit against Stella Roofing for alleged violations of the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act, and that suit is ongoing. The suit alleges that the defendants accepted deposits from consumers in exchange for promised roofing and other construction work, but then either failed to provide any work at all or provided incomplete or substandard work.

The petition also alleges that defendants promised to refund consumers’ deposits but failed to do so.

The lawsuit was filed in the City of St. Louis and seeks restitution on behalf of consumers who paid deposits to the defendants for construction work but received no work, or who received substandard or incomplete work. The suit also seeks injunctive relief preventing the defendants from taking advance deposits from consumers for construction work in Missouri.

All persons charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty, and criminal charges are not evidence of a crime.