In the following press release New Orleans District Attorney Leon A. Cannizzaro, Jr. announced that an Orleans Parish Special Grand Jury indicted [Docket Master] Paul Lewakowski, 46, with five (5) counts of felony theft and five (5) counts of misapplication of contractor payments in excess of $10,000. Between September 2006 and July 2009, Lewakowski allegedly deprived victims of approximately $427,000 collectively.

Lewakowsi’s bond was set at $1 million ($100,000 per count).

NuWireInvestor.com reports that one victim of Lewakowski was Carlos Ayestas who with his wife obtained a $300,000 construction loan from Iberia Mortgage and received a $95,865 check for an initial builder’s deposit, which was paid directly to Lewakowski’s company, Lionheart Development. As changes were made to their initial floor plan, another $10,000 in loan funding was paid to Lionheart. The couple hoped to cover the construction loan with funds from the Small Business Administration, since they had been awarded an SBA disaster loan to rebuild after Katrina. Ayestas says that the home was never built.

“It’s turned into a mess,” said Ayestas. “I’ve been paying on a mortgage for three years on a house that I don’t even have.”