Contractor given $780,000 bail in Livingston; more counts await in … – The Advocate

LIVINGSTON A state district judge in Livingston Parish has set bail at $780,000 for a Baton Rouge contractor facing more than three dozen counts of defrauding homeowners and contracting without a license in that parish.

Matthew J. Morris, 39, remained Friday in Livingston Parish Detention Center in Livingston and has been booked with 40 counts filed by sheriff's deputies and police in Walker and Denham Springs, online jail records show.

The counts apply to 10 alleged victims in the town, city and parish, authorities have said. Judge Elizabeth "Beth" Wolfe of the 21st Judicial District Court set the bail Friday.

Morris, owner of Complete Construction Contractors, has been accused of using a complicated contract and billing system to run up construction bills primarily on victims of the August flood in multiple jurisdictions for work that these residents contend was not done or for which they were grossly overcharged. He has already been arrested on 100 counts related to 24 victims in five jurisdictions, with more counts and victims possible, authorities said.

Even if Morris can make bail in Livingston, which will require a cash bond, Ascension Parish sheriff's deputies have a hold on him. They want to book him on five more counts in that parish, deputies said.

Baton Rouge contractor Matthew Morris hasagain been arrested on fraud, this time in Walker

He was first arrested in Ascension Feb. 8 on dozens of counts in 13 cases but was able to leave jail Feb. 10 on $635,000 bail. He was rearrested Tuesday to be booked in Baton Rouge and then brought to Livingston to be booked on counts there.

Ascension Sheriff's Det. Lt. Chris Fontenot said deputies want Morris on two counts of residential contractor fraud, two counts of insurance fraud and one count of theft of assets from the aged.

Those charges apply to two more victims. Fontenot added that in addition to those two new cases, deputies are investigating possible charges on two more for a total of 17 cases.

Lori Steele, spokeswoman for the Livingston Parish sheriff, said deputies in that parish also are investigating more cases involving Morris, in addition to the eight for which counts have been filed.

Follow David J. Mitchell on Twitter, @NewsieDave.

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Contractor given $780,000 bail in Livingston; more counts await in ... - The Advocate