KETTERING — After nine months, a Kettering woman who said a fencing company took her money and ran got her money back — but not from the company itself.
The I-Team’s lead investigative reporter, John Bedell, has been following the investigation into Dixie Fence South, LLC and its owner, Rob Fraley, for months.
Finally, Kim Wattermann has the fence she wanted to keep her dog Willow in the yard.
“Another company reached out after your story — offered to come and give an estimate and sort of assess the situation and I ended up going with them,” Wattermann said.
The I-Team first reported in October that she paid Fraley with Dixie Fence South, LLC $25,000 in May 2022 for a fence that was never built and stopped he stopped calling her back.
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So Wattermann filed a dispute with her bank and just last week they reversed the charge.
She also filed a consumer complaint with the Ohio Attorney General’s Office and called the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office Consumer Fraud Unit.
As News Center 7 has previously reported, she’s far from alone.
“We have so far, I believe, identified at least at this time about 25 victims,” Montgomery County Prosecutor Mat Heck said.
Heck provided an update on the open investigation into Dixie Fence South, LLC.
“This would be a criminal investigation. I know the Ohio Attorney General’s Office is involved on the civil end and doing an investigation. My investigators have been working in concert with them in the investigation sharing information,” Heck said.
He added if there is a sufficient amount of evidence then his office will present it to the Montgomery County grand jury.
Heck said the two investigations from the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office and the Ohio Attorney General’s Office are “completely separate.”
Fraley’s lawyer in the civil case previously confirmed Fraley is working with the Attorney General’s Office to get “20 to 30″ people their money back or build the fence they paid him for.
Fraley’s lawyer did not respond when the I-Team reached out for comment Monday.
I-Team reached out to the Attorney General’s Office for a comment on the investigation, they responded “we can neither confirm nor deny investigations.”
I-Team will keep following the consumer investigation and update this story as we learn more.