Manahawkin Man, Post-Sandy Contractor Convicted On Theft Charges

A 41-year-old Manahawkin man responsible for rebuilding projects after Hurricane Sandy was convicted this week on theft charges.

After a four week trial, David Haugland was convicted in Superior Court by an Ocean County Jury of two counts of second degree theft and one count of second degree attempted theft.

The jury was hung on one count of first degree money laundering, resulting in a mistrial on that count. The defendant is subject to retrial on that count.

According to the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office:

The state alleged that the defendant was in the business of home construction and had numerous building projects in the Long Beach Island area.

Specifically, Haugland was involved in business activities relative to three construction or proposed construction projects located at 1410 South Beach Avenue in Beach Haven, 6 Edge Water Drive in North Beach, Long Beach Township and 6013 Ocean Beach Blvd., Brant Beach, Long Beach Township.

The jury found that the defendant deceived investors about these projects as to his ownership status in the real property or his authority to deal in the property to induce the victims to invest and second that he failed to utilize investor monies pursuant to a known legal obligation, that is for construction on the respective properties as specified in his agreements with the investors. 

The jury determined that the total amount taken by the defendant from 12 investors was $1,092,500.  Finally, the jury found that the defendant sought to obtain a mortgage loan in excess of $75,000 by providing false information to a bank.  The penalty for each second degree count is between 5-10 years in State Prison.

The lead Detective on this case was James Conroy of the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Economic Crimes Unit and the case was presented to the jury by Senior Assistant Prosecutors Martin Anton and Peter Ryan.  The defendant was represented by V. Scott Macom of Egg Harbor Twsp.