A Redwood City contractor using a “sham license” who took nearly $400,000 from a Los Altos woman for home remodeling that never materialized was sentenced to two years in prison Friday, Santa Clara County prosecutors announced.
Michael George Schaeffer, 52, who operated MGS Construction, contracted in 2006 with the victim (whose identity wasn’t released) for home remodels. But two years later, he abandoned the project and took $395,524.50 of her money with him to start a business with a faulty business license.
“Although some work had been done, Shaeffer had funneled much of the money along with other clients’ money to his start-up, the Green Building Exchange,” according to a district attorney statement.
Prosecutors said Schaeffer marketed the Green Building Exchange as a “clearing house for environmentally progressive building products” and used a license that belonged someone who had no involvement with the company.
A judge ordered Schaeffer to repay in restitution the amount he bilked from the woman.
