A landscaper operating in Contra Costa County is facing 34 felony and misdemeanor charges for allegedly taking exorbitant down payments from prospective clients and never completing the work. Adan “Adam” Rivas, 34, of Concord, is alleged to have defrauded 11 families in Danville, San Ramon, Alamo, Lafayette, Orinda and Walnut Creek, prosecutors said. He has a $139,000 warrant for his arrest. For each alleged victim, Rivas faces felony charges of diverting construction funds and misdemeanor charges of entering into unlawful home improvement contracts and failing to secure worker’s compensation insurance.

In May last year, one family was so perturbed by his actions, they created the website adamrivastreescam.com in the hopes of reaching other potential victims. Commenters complained of back yards torn up and left “a huge mess,” elderly neighbors who had driveways ripped up and never re-paved, and dozens of calls or text messages that went unanswered. Reviews on Yelp show a similar modus operandi. Deputy District Attorney William Murphy said the district attorney’s office believes there are additional unreported victims.

It’s a pattern that appears to repeat itself as more victims come forward, District Attorney Mark Peterson said. “These families are looking to hire someone to help them,” Peterson said in a statement. “Instead, they are getting nothing but messed up yards and depleted bank accounts.”

Deputy District Attorney William Murphy said the bids would often range from $8,000 to $12,000 and Rivas would ask for down payments of $3,000 to $5,000. Contractors are only legally able to take 10 percent of the estimated cost as a down payment, Murphy said. “Sometimes he would do additional negotiations for more work and take more down payment monies,” Murphy said.

The website lists several aliases for the landscaping service such as “New View Tree Care,” “New View Tree Service,” “One Way Tree Service,” “View Maintenance and Landscaping,” “View Landscaping and Tree Service,” and “High Tech Tree Care.”