Sep 23, 2005 11:32 pm US/Central
Prosecutors: Charged Company Owner Is Violent
State's Attorneys Argues Tad Christianson Shouldn't Be Released On Bond
by Pam Zekman
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
The central figure in a home repair scam that targets fire victims was portrayed by prosecutors today as a violent man who poses a real threat to the physical safety of people involved in the case.
For that reason the Cook County State's Attorneys Office argued he should not be released on bond.
CBS 2's Pam Zekman first broke the story and has this follow up report.
Board-up companies and public adjustors, often linked to construction companies, rush to fire scenes eager to sign up vulnerable fire victims.
And today in court, prosecutors said companies tied to Tad Christianson were fiercely competitive.
"We have information that he hired people, his employees, paid them cash bonuses to do violence to competitors at fire scenes," said John Mahoney with the Cook County State's Attorney's Office. "We have one individual who was savagely beaten with a pipe."
As the operators of Action Fire Restoration prosecutors said Tad Christianson and his wife, Donna, collected insurance money for work that was not done on fire-damaged home.
And they allegedly did it sometimes by forging homeowners' signatures on insurance checks.
Mahoney said there is millions of dollars involved in the fraud.
At one point, prosecutors said Christianson wanted to stop an insurance adjustor from investigating the fraud.
"And comments were made regarding the hiring of hit men to deal with this insurance adjuster," Mahoney said.
Prosecutors also said that police found 38 guns and rifles in Christianson's Burr Ridge home, some in his kids' rooms, and trophies of animals he's killed prove Christianson's a good shot.
The judge set bond for Christianson at $1 million. He can get out of jail by posting 10 percent. But it may be difficult for Christianson to post bond. Four of his accounts containing $1.7 million have been frozen.
The judge also told him to surrender his passport and not to contact a list of people who feel their lives are in danger for cooperating in the case.
(© MMV, CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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