Contractor charged with home improvement fraud nearly two years after planned start of Chambersburg project
CHAMBERSBURG- A home in Greene Township initially contracted the start of a deck renovation in the Summer of 2024, but the owner of that company has now been charged nearly two years after cashing the first check. Levi Aaron Lupton, the owner of Kingdom Custom Decks, is free on an unsecured bail of $50,000 after being charged with felony receiving advanced payment for services and failure to perform and felony theft by deception.
Pennsylvania State Police Troopers were contacted by a homeowner at a location on Cresthaven Drive in Greene Township on January 3rd of 2025 in relation to a report of a possible home improvement fraud. Police say the victim contracted Kingdom Custom Decks in June of 2024 and would enter into a contract with them in order to renovate their deck. After agreeing to the contract, the victim reportedly wrote out a check for $3,200 with work set to begin on August 19th.
When that day arrived, police say the victim never saw contractors. Additionally, police say the victim was unable to contact Kingdom Custom Decks. PSP continue, saying that the victim then received a new start date on September 19th because “they were extremely behind schedule and wanted to sit down and talk about their agreement,” referencing the business’ owner, Levi Lupton. The initial check from the victim would be deposited by Kingdom on August 9th.
On April 8th of this year, PSP would learn that the work still hadn’t been started, let alone completed. In that time, however, PSP say the victim had paid $6620 more to Lupton’s company via a credit card to do the work. It would be clarified that the $3200 was to extend the deck an additional four feet. That victim would eventually have to dispute the charges with their credit card as fraud, receiving the $6620 back from the company. The cashed paper check, however, had already been cashed.
During this time period, police say that Lupton again asked to meet with the victim in person. This was refused and Lupton was told to refund that cash check instead. Lupton would tell the victim in January of 2025 that he was “working on it,” but had since “ghosted” them and stopped all communications.
Levi Lupton remains free and awaiting his next court date in Franklin County, scheduled for May 5th.
Sources: Docket Number: MJ-39304-CR-0000092-2026, Incident No.: PA 2025-13089