BEVERLY, Mass. — What looks like an abandoned property on Chipman Street in Beverly is actually a dearly beloved home fifty years in the making, according to the homeowner.
“We were supposed to be in there happy, enjoying life, but he crushed it,” Gloria Lilja said.
The man Lilja is referring to is Jaime Ford of Middleton, a contractor hired to renovate the home in 2014.
“It’s heartbreaking to see somebody who worked her entire since she was 14 making an honest living as a labor and delivery nurse it's so hard to watch,” Lilja’s daughter Kaarin Robinson said.
Ford stopped showing up, Lilja said, but always had excuses and kept asking for more money.
“He's standing there with his hands in his pockets and he's saying this is going to cost another $100,000 but he said I can get it down to $50,000,” she said.
Robinson decided to take a closer look at Ford, and said she discovered that he had forged her mother’s name on building permits and falsified the list of sub-contractors he claimed to be working with.
Beverly police told FOX25 that Ford has scammed numerous homeowners and is now facing criminal charges.
“I still can't get over it and I don’t think I ever will,” Lilja said.
An attorney for Ford told FOX25 that the incident will be handled when it is heard in court.
"The facts of this case are grossly inflated. Mr. Ford is anxious to bring this matter to trial where the truth will be flushed out in a public courtroom; and not in the media as the alleged victims would like," Carmine P. Lepore said.
Cox Media Group
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