ST. CLOUD – A former St. Cloud business owner was arrested in Missouri on Thursday, one day after being charged with five felony counts of theft by swindle in Stearns County District Court.
Caleb J. Oberg, 44, of Avon was booked into the Christian County Jail in Missouri after Stearns County officials issued a warrant for his arrest.
A Stearns County investigator was notified last fall of several complaints concerning the closing of St. Cloud-based Oberg Roofing and Remodeling, according to charges.
The investigation found 23 customers who paid a total of $240,000 to the company between July 2023 and September 2024 with no work done in exchange.
About half of the customers who paid for incomplete projects live in Stearns County; others live in Benton, Morrison, Douglas, Sherburne and Mille Lacs counties.
A minority owner of the business, which opened in 2017, told investigators he learned last year from a bookkeeper that the business was showing a loss, and their two main suppliers started “cutting them off” after not being paid, the complaint states.
The bookkeeper told investigators that customers started complaining about receiving lien notices from suppliers and Oberg “directed employees to make up a lie about why they were receiving them,” the complaint said.
Meanwhile, Oberg reportedly sold a company truck and used the money as a down payment on a $160,000 Corvette, according to the complaint.
