A Bucks County landscaper has been charged with 19 felonies following an investigation by the Office of the Attorney General of Pennsylvania’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
Nicholas Lukens, 42, of the 2300 block of East Rock Road, Perkasie, is accused of entering into contracts with and taking large deposits from four homeowners for major exterior home improvement work and never completing the projects, according to the criminal complaint.
Lukens, the owner of ECB Landscaping, was charged on March 13 with four felony counts of home improvement fraud, one felony count of dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities, four felony counts of theft by deception, four felony counts of deceptive business practices, four felony counts of criminal mischief, and two felony counts of theft by failure to make required deposit of funds.
Police allege Lukens signed contracts to install in-ground swimming pools, exterior hardscaping, exterior kitchens, and more. In all four cases, Lukens did not provide the equivalent amount of work and materials, and he also failed to pay two subcontractors, according to charging documents.
On Dec. 12, 2023, the Bureau of Criminal Investigations received a referral from the state Office of Attorney General’s Bureau of Consumer Protection regarding online complaints about ECB Landscaping and Lukens. The complaints, per the report, said Lukens allegedly took deposits for in-ground pools and patio projects and filed to provide the work, and at least one complaint was from a subcontractor who was hired by Lukens to do demolition and excavation and was never paid. Other complaints alleged Lukens tried to convince customers that he partnered with an investor and started a landscaping business in Blue Bell, according to the report.
Authorities said, in one claim, Lukens allegedly contracted a $194,750 project for an outdoor kitchen, fireplace, pavilion and retaining walls, and was paid a $30,000 deposit to begin. In the end, police allege Lukens never delivered materials, never applied for permits, and offered excuses such as one of his employees being shot in Philadelphia or having broken equipment, as reasons for the job being left incomplete.
In another fraudulent claim, officials allege Lukens contracted a $20,710 basement walkout project, and was given a $6,903 deposit to begin the work. Instead of starting basement work, Lukens tried to get the client to put in an in-ground pool and backyard patio/grotto. The client accepted the new project at a $234,780 cost, and gave another one-third deposit, this time $78,260, according to investigators.
Then, police said Lukens allegedly scammed the client into two more new projects, and was given $27,000 as a deposit. Afterwards, per the report, Lukens allegedly scammed the same client two more times with two additional proposed projects and was given deposits totaling $44,066.
A third fraudulent claim involved a $253,150 contract for a swimming pool, outdoor kitchen, and fireplace, at which time Lukens was paid $84,383 up front, according to the complaint. Investigators said a hole was dug for the pool and a subcontractor came in to pour concrete, but the project was never completed. In that project, according to the report, the subcontractor billed Lukens, who pushed the bill onto the customer, who declined to pay. The subcontractor then filed a mechanic’s lien on the customer’s property, the affidavit states.
In the fourth fraudulent claim, Lukens had a subcontractor do excavation work for a pool project, for a contract that cost $140,000, and the work was never completed, officials allege.
In the fifth fraudulent claim, the same subcontractor was hired by Lukens to excavate a pool in Newtown at a cost of $39,696, officials said. Lukens allegedly did not pay the invoice and did not respond to calls, forcing the subcontractor to put a mechanic’s lien on the customer’s home to recoup their expenses, according to the complaint.
Officials said Lukens did attempt to start a landscaping business with a former customer that used ECB Landscaping in 2018, and police took a witness statement from the customer as part of their investigation. This former customer contacted Lukens for more work in early 2023, according to the complaint, at which time Lukens told him ECB Landscaping was going out of business and asked him for a loan of $78,000, to which he obliged.
Having ambitions to start his own landscaping business, they discussed starting one together, but the customer soon found Lukens and his business "were never profitable, had a large amount of institutional debt, and was currently being sued by a former customer,” according to charging documents.
Lukens' landscaping business has since declared Chapter 7 bankruptcy, police said.
Court records show Lukens was arraigned before District Judge Regina Armitage on March 15, who set bail at $200,000 unsecured. A preliminary hearing is set for May 7 at 2 p.m. before Armitage, according to the court docket.
Lukens also has an active criminal case in the Chester County Court of Common Pleas, according to court records. He is facing a misdemeanor charge of writing bad checks in September 2023, and is awaiting trial. He was arrested by Parkesburg Borough Police in November 2023.
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