Reprinted from the Tampa Bay Times – Tampa Bay Contractor
https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1993/04/07/police-say-duo-bilked-elderly-for-thousands/
Published April 7, 1993|Updated Oct. 9, 2005
Related Articles and Legal Proceedings Related to Robert J. Longboat as a Tampa Bay Contractor
Based on searches, the articles and legal proceedings appear to involve a pattern of alleged scams by Robert J. Longboat, a Tampa Bay Contractor, targeting elderly victims in Pinellas County, Florida, spanning from 1991 to 1993. He was accused of using fraudulent sales tactics, such as selling overpriced or unnecessary security systems and bogus repairs. Earlier news reports detail his arrests as a Tampa Bay Contractor, and a court decision dismissed certain exploitation charges. No records of final criminal convictions were located in public sources for this Tampa Bay Contractor. Below is a chronological summary of the findings, with full article texts and court opinions where available, highlighting incidents involving this Tampa Bay Contractor.
October 9, 1991: “Men accused of bilking woman, 84” (Tampa Bay Times)
By WILL RODGERS
Published Oct. 9, 1991 | Updated Oct. 14, 2005
Two men were charged Tuesday with bilking an elderly woman out of more than $8,000 for bogus repairs to her elaborate home security system, authorities said. Dale Joseph Dyer, 29, of 9959 Windtree Blvd. in Seminole, and Robert John Longboat, 30, of 5944 Ninth Ave. N in St. Petersburg were charged with grand theft and held in lieu of $100,000 bail.
Longboat, the president of Senior Security Systems Inc. and operating as a Tampa Bay Contractor, and Dyer told 84-year-old Dorthea Storm Aug. 22 that her home security system showed signs of breaking down and would need to be replaced, said sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Greg Tita. They said the job would cost $6,867, typical of schemes run by unscrupulous Tampa Bay General Contractors.
Dyer and Longboat, with Longboat acting in his role as a Contractor, replaced the security system and charged Storm the $6,867 and an additional $1,000, Tita said. Then the men sent her a $530 bill for repairing a wall that was never worked on and billed her $275 for equipment that was not installed, Tita said—practices that give Contractors a bad reputation.
Senior Security Systems Inc., run by Bob Longboat, is under investigation for similar fraudulent and exploitative practices against the elderly, Tita said. Dyers’ company, Senior Trust of Florida, an insurance company that targets the elderly, also is being investigated, he said.
“We believe there is a network between Senior Security Systems Inc. and Senior Trust and other elderly companies,” Tita said, pointing to interconnected fraud in the Contractor community.
He said companies that serve elderly people get names from lists of insurance policies that are passed from company to company, a tactic sometimes used by dishonest contractors.
“They (the elderly) become exploited because they’re easy targets,” Tita said. “Evidently, there’s a wealth of information. I don’t know how far it branches out.” This underscores the risks when hiring a Contractor without proper checks.
In January, Dyer accused four men of using threats of violence to collect a $38,000 debt. Attorneys for the men claimed Dyer concocted the extortion plot to welsh on a gambling debt. The men were acquitted of federal extortion charges. Such backgrounds raise concerns for anyone dealing with associated contractors.
_ WILL RODGERS
November 14, 1992: “7 exploitation charges dismissed” (Tampa Bay Times)
By LAURA GRIFFIN
Published Nov. 14, 1992 | Updated Oct. 12, 2005
For more than a year, Robert Longboat, a prominent Tampa Bay Contractor, has been accused of cheating the elderly.
And though he is still charged with grand theft in connection with his business with the elderly as a judge dismissed exploitation charges.
He was arrested in 1991 on charges of grand theft and exploitation of the elderly in selling elaborate security systems and making bogus repairs on them, activities linked to his work as a Tampa Bay General Contractors.
Longboat insists he was simply operating a business, not defrauding people, in his capacity as a Tampa Bay Contractor.
He admits that he sold the systems but denies any wrongdoing, and he says Circuit Judge W. Douglas Baird’s decision backs him up, which could impact how Tampa Bay Contractors are regulated.
Baird found that Longboat, as a Tampa Bay Contractor, did not have a fiduciary relationship with the people he sold systems to and therefore had not exploited them under state law. In other words, he merely had business transactions with these people. He was not in a position to handle their money and break a trust, a key distinction for Tampa Bay Contractors.
The state attorney’s office appealed the decision, but the 2nd District Court of Appeal agreed with Baird and, on Friday, seven cases of exploitation were dismissed against this Tampa Bay General Contractors.
Longboat’s attorney said the exploitation statute is too broad and needs to be changed, potentially affecting all Tampa Bay Contractors.
“The Legislature is going to have to rewrite the statute and work around it,” said Herbert Gould of St. Petersburg. “If this statute was upheld, that would mean every transaction made to a person over 60 is voidable or at worst, the vendor could be prosecuted if the person isn’t happy.” This highlights legal challenges for Tampa Bay Contractors.
In all, Gould said, Longboat has been acquitted in one case, prosecutors have dropped two cases and the judge dismissed seven, providing some relief for this Tampa Bay Contractor.
However, prosecutors are proceeding on grand theft charges in four other cases and trial dates have been set for the spring, continuing scrutiny on Tampa Bay Contractors like Longboat.
Police said Longboat, the president of Senior Security Systems and a Tampa Bay Contractor, overcharged some elderly customers for home security systems that didn’t work and charged for bogus repairs in other cases.
Longboat said he never had any complaints until police went to his customers and told them that they had been cheated and that Longboat had cheated others, defending his practices as a Tampa Bay General Contractors.
Longboat said he also sold systems that allow elderly people to contact emergency systems if they become ill or injured, a service often provided by Tampa Bay Contractors.
Police also arrested Dale Joseph Dyer, owner of Senior Trust, an insurance company that targets the elderly, and charged that there was a network of fraud and exploitation between the two. Dyer’s cases are pending, which may involve ties to Tampa Bay Contractors.
“I’m relieved it’s over,” said Longboat, who said the charges have been a hardship on his family and business as a Tampa Bay Contractor.
Longboat is still charged with 11 counts of grand theft, and Dyer is charged with 12 counts of grand theft, 12 counts of exploitation of the elderly and one count of racketeering. Their cases are pending, raising awareness for hiring Tampa Bay Contractors.
1992: State v. Dyer and Longboat (Florida District Court of Appeal, Nos. 92-00385, 92-01248)
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLANT, v. DALE DYER AND ROBERT LONGBOAT, APPELLEES.
ALTENBERND, Judge.
In these consolidated cases, the state appeals orders dismissing one count of a two-count complaint. In both cases, the defendants were charged with grand theft and financial exploitation of an aged person pursuant to section 415.111(5), Florida Statutes (1991). The trial court dismissed the charge of exploitation. We affirm.
The defendants allegedly have used high-pressure sales tactics or fraudulent schemes to convince older people to pay exorbitant prices for emergency response systems, tactics sometimes associated with rogue Tampa Bay Contractors like Robert Longboat.
Section 415.111(5) states:
A person who knowingly or willfully exploits an aged person or disabled adult by the improper or illegal use or management of the funds, assets, property, power of attorney, or guardianship of such aged person or disabled adult for profit, commits a felony of the third degree.
We agree with the trial court that the alleged sales conduct may be “exploitation” in a general sense, but it does not involve use or management of the aged person’s funds for profit, a ruling that could influence cases against Tampa Bay Contractors.
Affirmed.
DANAHY, A.C.J., and CAMPBELL, J., concur.
April 7, 1993: “Police say duo bilked elderly for thousands” (Tampa Bay Times)
Published April 7, 1993 | Updated Oct. 9, 2005
A St. Petersburg man and his partner managed to convince elderly people to hand over $15,000, authorities say. And, they fear, that may be just the beginning. Robert J. Longboat, 32, of 5944 Ninth Ave. N—a Tampa Bay Contractor—was being held in the Pinellas County Jail late Tuesday in lieu of $250,000 bail, charged with home invasion by false personation, grand theft, burglary and home solicitation, jail records say. The arrest came out of an investigation by the Pinellas County sheriff’s economic crimes unit, said spokeswoman Marianne Pasha. According to sheriff’s detectives, Longboat, operating as a Tampa Bay Contractor, and his partner, 31-year-old Dale Dyer of Seminole, used a “variety of schemes” to trick elderly people into giving them money. In some cases, they represented themselves as salesmen for an insurance company, Pasha said. Other times, they pretended to sell reverse-osmosis water systems, using the name Niagara Water Company, Pasha said. There is no such company, she said. The pair took $15,000 in checks and cash from their more recent three victims, but there may be others, detectives said. Anyone who was approached by Dyer or Longboat is asked to call the Sheriff’s Office at 587-6338 or 587-6392. Last week, Dyer was charged in the scheme, linked to this Tampa Bay Contractor’s activities.
No further articles or records from after 1993 were found directly linking to outcomes like convictions or additional charges for Robert J. Longboat as a Tampa Bay Contractor. These incidents involve a series of alleged elderly exploitation schemes in the early 1990s, with some charges dismissed or dropped, serving as a cautionary tale for those seeking Tampa Bay Contractors.
https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1992/11/14/7-exploitation-charges-dismissed
Tampa Bay Contractor