BAKER CITY — A Baker City man is accused of receiving money from clients for construction projects that he failed to start or finish.

Kenneth Edward Hackett, 51, was arrested at 9 a.m. on Saturday, June 19, in Baker City on two counts of aggravated theft and one count of first-degree theft.

The warrant from Baker County Circuit Court stems from investigations by the Baker City Police Department and Baker County Sheriff’s Office related to construction fraud complaints, according to a press release from Ray Duman, interim administrator for the Baker City Police.

The two agencies investigated two incidents with a combined loss of $78,000, according to the press release.

A third case, from Union County, also was reported to Baker City Police.

Three other cases reported to Baker City Police were settled by civil action between the residents and Hackett, according to the press release.

According to the Oregon Contractor Construction Board, Hackett has never been a licensed contractor in Oregon.

The agency fined Hackett five times between 2009 and 2021 for working without a license, and he owes $25,491 in penalties, including interest, said Leslie Culpepper, communications and education manager for the Contractor Construction Board.

Hackett is one of two defendants in a civil lawsuit for breach of contract filed March 3, 2021, in Baker County Circuit Court by Jerry P. Martin of Baker City.

The other defendant is A+ Affordable Construction LLC, a Baker City company owned by Joanna Dixon, a Baker City City Council member.

Dixon’s company’s license with the Construction Contractors Board has expired, according to agency records.

Martin is seeking $18,493.69 in damages from the defendants. In the lawsuit, he claims Hackett represented himself as the “controlling member and owner” of the A+ Affordable Construction. Dixon is the only person listed as associated with the limited liability corporation on records with the Oregon Secretary of State’s Corporation Division.

Martin paid Hackett two checks in September 2020, totaling $18,493.69 and both made out to Hackett, for removing an existing patio and building a new patio at Martin’s Baker City home.

According to the lawsuit, Hackett “represented to Plaintiff on multiple occasions that he had the authority to act on behalf of (A+Affordable Construction) and that despite what was filed with the Oregon Secretary of State he was the owner and controlled Defendant LLC.

Hackett never did the work for which Martin paid, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit has gone to arbitration.

In a handwritten response to the lawsuit, Dixon wrote that her company’s license with the Construction Contractors Board expired Aug. 20, 2020, and that “there is no recourse against A+ Affordable LLC or myself.”

According to the press release, “BCPD anticipates additional charges, as additional investigations will be presented to the Baker County District Attorney’s Office.”

People can report possible incidents involving Hackett to the Baker City Police (541-523-3644) or Baker County Sheriff’s Office (541-523-6415).