SEBRING – After a three-month investigation by State Attorney’s Office Investigator Stephen Menge, Robert Stephen Wiggins, 32, of 3745 Sparta Road in Sebring, was arrested Thursday and charged with scheme to defraud, five counts of grand theft, six counts of contracting without a license and workers compensation fraud.

He obtained $14,861.36 from multiple victims. Wiggins was arrested Thursday and was held on a $10,000 bond for his charges but has since bonded out.

The State Attorney’s Office was originally contacted on April 25 by a citizen who wished to file fraud complaints against Wiggins. Since then, a total of 12 victims came forward to file complaints.

Wiggins worked as a handy man in the stock room for K Signs & Aluminum in Sebring. Since window rescreening was Wiggins’ specialty, he would often be sent out to do those jobs.

While out on the job, Wiggins would solicit additional work from the homeowners, and he would find work through referrals from neighbors.

Wiggins told most of the victims he’d need a deposit before starting the construction. In many of the cases, he started some of the work but never returned to complete it.

The work Wiggins solicited required him to be licensed as a “Specialty Structure Contractor.”

An investigator with the Department of Business and Professional Regulation found “no evidence that Robert Wiggins has ever had a current or active license as a state registered or state certified construction contractor…”

If you believe you are one of Wiggins’ victims, please contact Investigator Menge at 863-534-4920 or smenge@sao10.com.