An Erie concrete contractor accused of accused of bilking customers by taking payments for work not done in and around the city is facing more charges as he sends another criminal case to court.

Mark J. Anthony, 39, waived to court Nov. 26 a misdemeanor deceptive practices charge that the Erie Bureau of Police filed against him Oct. 29. Anthony waived the charge to court as he appeared before Erie 5th Ward District Judge Paul Bizzarro without a lawyer for his scheduled preliminary hearing in the case.

Anthony also waived to court at the hearing a misdemeanor count of home improvement fraud that was added to the case Nov. 26, Assistant District Attorney Robert Oliver said.

Erie police accuse Anthony in the case of taking a $1,000 deposit from a city man in March for concrete work that was never done, and of failing to refund the homeowner’s money.

Cases filed beginning in late October

The case is one of eight criminal cases Anthony, the owner of Mark Anthony Concrete, is currently facing on allegations of defrauding customers by taking deposits, and in one case a full payment, for various concrete projects he agreed to do but never completed. The victims in those cases told police they later attempted to get Anthony to refund their money when the work wasn’t done, but were unsuccessful in doing so, according to information in the criminal complaints.

Area police agencies began filing charges against Anthony in late October. The first was filed by the Millcreek Township Police Department and accused Anthony of taking money from two township customers but failing to do the work. Five additional victims were added to the Millcreek police criminal complaint when Anthony appeared in court for his preliminary hearing Nov. 18.

Anthony waived all of the charges, including six felony counts of home improvement fraud, to court at the hearing.

Anthony’s unsecured bond that was set in the case was revoked after he failed to appear for an earlier hearing in the case Nov. 4. He remains in the Erie County Prison in the case, and on two $25,000 bonds that were set when Anthony was arraigned Nov. 16 on two sets of criminal charges filed by the Pennsylvania State Police.

Troopers accuse Anthony in one of the cases of failing to pay Akerly Concrete in Harborcreek Township more than $30,000 for materials and products, and of passing a number of bad checks to the company, according to information in the criminal complaint. He is accused in the second case of taking more than $6,000 in deposits from a Harborcreek Township resident for work he did not do, according to information in the complaint.

In addition to the case Anthony appeared in court for Nov. 26, Erie police also charged him Nov. 1 with felony counts including home improvement fraud and theft. He is accused in the case of taking $4,650 in deposits for a driveway replacement project not done.

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New cases, more investigations

Anthony is additionally facing criminal charges in three new cases.

The Lawrence Park Township Police Department charged him with misdemeanor counts including home improvement fraud after accusing him of failing to complete a project for a township resident after taking a $700 deposit in April.

Erie police on Nov. 20 charged Anthony with a felony count of home improvement fraud after accusing him of failing to do work or refund money to a city woman who paid him the full estimated amount for a driveway project, totaling nearly $12,000, in April, according to information in the complaint.

Millcreek police charged Anthony Nov. 21 with misdemeanor counts of bad checks and theft by deception after accusing him of giving two bad checks to a former employee, according to the complaint.

Area police departments reported Nov. 26 that they are investigating other reports concerning Anthony, and they are encouraging anyone who might have a similar incident to contact their local police department.

Contact Tim Hahn at thahn@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie PA concrete contractor waives case, faces more fraud charges