A complaint filed Monday in Santa Barbara Superior Court against Mark Melchiori alleges the former president of Melchiori Construction Company committed 47 felonies from 2006-2013. The company has faced multiple lawsuits from 2011-2012, which alleged it didn’t pay its creditors and subcontractors on time.
In the District Attorney’s Office indictment, Melchiori, 49, is charged with embezzlement, insurance and wage fraud, violating the unemployment insurance code, diverting construction funds, and committing as well as conspiring to commit grand theft. The charges carry one special allegation of aggravated white-collar crime — taking over $150,000 — and two more special allegations — taking over $100,000 and $200,000, respectively.
The complaint includes 15 charges alleging Melchiori diverted over $350,000 worth of construction funds received from filmmaker Robert Zemeckis between July 2010 and May 1, 2016. The complaint further charges Melchiori deceived the filmmaker out of property worth $53,876.