Another local homebuilder is facing criminal charges and civil lawsuits for his actions during the Treasure Valley's housing boom.
Robert Moffat of Moffat and Moffat Construction in Eagle is expected to plead guilty to one felony forgery charge and settle a related civil case in July. He was charged in January with four counts of forgery after being accused of falsely overcharging people who hired him to build their high-end homes.
Prosecutors say invoices from a framing subcontractor were inflated by $11,772 and $22,818; one from a truss supplier was billed at $15,269 more than the original invoice; and another from a roofing contractor increased by $18,185.
Moffat's former customers in Eagle's Two Rivers subdivision, David and Jody Zanecki, also claimed in a 2006 civil suit that Moffat inflated and invented charges and forged invoices to steal more than $100,000 from them. The civil complaint also details overcharges and erroneous fees of almost $40,000 paid by two other families in the subdivision.
"Bob Moffat was allowed to manipulate the system," said attorney Dennis Charney, who represents the plaintiffs in the civil case. "Eventually that scheme collapses as it has again and again in this Valley."
The plaintiffs, the other families, Moffat and his attorney all declined to comment.
But the cases bring more attention to a wave of lawsuits and court filings mounting since the Treasure Valley housing bubble burst two years ago.
The biggest example in Idaho so far is a string of federal indictments against five people accused of operating an elaborate "straw borrowers" scheme that investigators said led to almost $20 million in fraudulent loans, investigators said.
The Ada County prosecutor's office is dealing with an increased number of such cases, said Deputy Prosecutor Jonathan Medema, who is handling Moffat's criminal case.
In the Moffat case, a sentencing agreement that's on the table would allow the Eagle contractor to plead guilty to one forgery count, and the other three would be dismissed by the court, Medema said.
The maximum sentence for felony forgery is 10 years in prison. But prosecutors would recommend probation and could argue for special conditions related to Moffat's business practices, Medema said.
The sentencing agreement won't be finished until a judge accepts the defendant's plea.
Moffat is scheduled to enter a plea July 25.
The Zaneckis hope to have the civil case settled by mid-July, Charney said.
Sandra Forester: 377-6464
