A Lawton man is facing charges after police say he ripped off a family of more than $95,000 with false promises of contracting work.

The Van Buren County Sheriff’s Department says it began investigating 58-year-old Gordon Leighton for operating without a license and contractor fraud after the victims contacted it in August of last year.

According to the sheriff’s department, the family hired Leighton to rebuild their home after it was destroyed in a fire. The victims had received a payout from their insurance company and paid Leighton to build their family a new home back in November of 2022. However, after two years of waiting and living in an apartment, the family never saw the project finished.

Police say Leighton started the construction, pouring the foundation, in January of 2023, but the last time any work was done was in October of 2023. The home has just been standing as a stick frame house with no siding or interior work finished since.

The sheriff’s department tells us the family is out more than $95,000, and that’s not even the total amount they paid.

Investigators believe Leighton had been moving funds around from job to job in an attempt to complete various construction projects. It didn’t work.

Now, the sheriff’s department is asking anyone else who may have been ripped off to contact it. In the meantime, Leighton has been charged with felony contractor fraud and with acting as an unlicensed residential builder, a misdemeanor.