Jason Siegel Owner Of Performance Mobile Marine Service Solicited arson for insurance fraud twice, did not repair motor, damaged motor, extorted $601.75 cash ransom to return boat Eastpointe Michigan

This man advertises his company as Perfomance Marine, a Mobile Marine Service, which comes to your home to repair boats, on site. On 7/2/2009, he dispatched a mechanic, who after arriving at my home, decided that the boat could not be repaired on site, and needed to be taken back to Jason Siegel for repairs involving a "cold start" problem and a "timing" problem.

I received a receipt, signed by Richard M. Siegel, employee and father of the owner of the company, stating that he was taking the boat from my home to the repair facility.

7/7/2009 Jason Siegel called to state that the boat repairs were complete and it was ready to be picked up. I drove from my Livingston County Michigan home to his Macomb County Michigan home, only to find that the boat was not repaired. Jason stated that if I went out for dinner locally, and came back in a couple of hours, the boat would be fixed. I returned at 10:30 pm to find that the boat was moved into the road (from its original location in his driveway next to his house) and the motor and back end of the boat were saturated with gasoline.

At this point, he asked me if I had insurance on the boat and that he would carry out an arson for insurance fraud purposes for me. I thought he was joking because he was having so much difficulty repairing the motor. I declined the offer to commit arson/insurance fraud.

He stated that he would finish repairing the boat the next day 7/8/2009 and because of the inconvenience I incurred, he would deliver it to my home. For the next two days, he would not return my phone calls.

On Friday, 7/10/2009 I left a message for him stating my concerns with him avoiding my calls and not returning my boat. He finally returned my call, said the boat was repaired, and that he would deliver it that evening. Three times during the conversation, I offered to come pick the boat up, just to get the ordeal over. He insisted that it was not necessary, and since I had been so inconvenienced, that he would most definitely be delivering the boat that evening.

The next morning, 7/11/2009, I still had not received the boat, nor had Jason Siegel called to explain why he had not delivered the boat as promised.

I then did an Offender Search online, and discovered that Jason Siegel had been convicted of insurance fraud in 1997 and served a prison sentence from which he was discharged in 2002. In 2007, he had committed a larceny by conversion (several thousand dollars) and served a prison sentence from which he was discharged in May 2009, only two months before he took possession of my boat under the guise of owning a legitimate repair facility.

After learning of his criminal convictions I realized that my boat was most likely stolen and Jason Siegel never had any intention of returning it to me.

That same day, I called all police departments involved. Hamburg Township police, who had jurisdiction from where the boat was taken, Eastpointe police who had jurisdiction of where the boat had been at Jason's home, and Chesterfield Township police, who had jurisdiction over where the final, detailed solicitation for arson took place, in a building located next to their police department.

I believe this building, located at 46457 Continental Drive, Chesterfield Twp, MI 48047 to be an illegally run business, dealing with gasoline (which I witnessed being washed off my boat with water, allowing it to run into the sewer), and waste oil, among other hazardous materials.

When Jason Siegel was contacted by my local police department and ordered to return my property to me, he lied to the officer, stating that he had been in touch with me on a daily basis, keeping me informed of the progress of the repairs.

He also told the officer that the reason he didn't return my boat on Friday 7/10/2009 was because he had received an emergency call of a sinking boat on Lake Saint Clair, requiring him to perform a rescue. I am certain that was a lie. He told me that the reason he didn't return the boat was because his mechanic was pulled over and arrested by the police for possession of marijuana and that he had to help post bail. (Was this also a lie?) During the same conversation, he said that his teenage daughter wanted to go boating on Lake Saint Clair and that that's what they were doing, until 4:00 am, instead of returning my boat. (This one is probably the truth.) In one day, he had given 3 different stories as to why he could not return my boat, nor call to advise me that the boat would not be returned.

Assuming the boat was stolen, I drove to Jason Siegel's residence to recover it. No one was home and my boat was not there. I then drove to his "repair facility". No one was there and I could not see if my boat was inside. My local police department and I called Jason Siegel and demanded that he tell me where my boat was located, and meet me there to return it to me.

He met me at the "repair facility". My boat was inside the building, placed into a corner in such a manner that I could not take possession of the boat. The back of the boat was again covered in gasoline. It did not run properly and was in worse condition than when Siegel took possession of it. At this point, in front of at least 7 witnesses, he offered, in detail, to set an arson fire to the boat, by disconnecting a fuel line and claiming to officials that all he did was "start the boat, and it exploded into flames".

When I refused to agree to commit the crime, he then forced me to pay $601.75 in CASH for repairs that he says were performed. He claims to have changed gear lube, replaced spark plugs and wires, removed 2 carburetors, disassembled them and soaked in carburetor cleaner, replaced all gaskets, reassembled and installed both carburetors, replaced carburetor air box gaskets, replaced water fuel separator filter, replaced 4 feet of fuel line, replaced fuel primer bulb, replaced water outlet assembly, installed 8 hose clamps, ran engine and adjusted carburetors, injected ignition timing, and adjusted the idle. He still has possession of my trailer hitch and most of my specially designed bungee style boat cover straps.

He would not give my boat back to me without receiving payment for these supposed repairs. I knew the boat had not been fixed, but paid the "ransom" to be able to regain possession of my property.

The following day, 7/12/2007, I took the boat to Wilson Marine in Brighton. (Thanks so much to Bob, my new and awesome mechanic!!!) There, the boat was repaired correctly. The mechanic took photos and provided notes regarding what he found. (The bill was $846.79.) Following are the notes regarding what Jason Siegel did and did not do while he had possession of my boat. Keep in mind, this is after I paid over $600 for his repair services:

Loose hose connections leaking fuel
Wrong clamps used improperly
Fuel filter on engine mounted backwards
Fuel pump impulse line on VRO completely missing, gone
VRO impulse hole plugged in block, check valve missing, gone
Dirt inside air box
Air box drain hose not connected
Oil line plugged badly
Impulse fitting gone from VRO, O-ring in the pan
Linkage on carburetor badly adjusted, out of sync
Dirt in primer system
Dirt inside carburetors (remember when Jason stated that he'd removed them, disassembled them, thoroughly cleaned them and re-installed them?)
Dirt in idle orifice
Nylon ties (zip strips) around spark plug boots (NOT an appropriate use)
Idle timing not correct
Short primer hose on bottom carburetor, long hose on top carb (should be the reverse of this)
Shift not centered to neutral
Carburetor bowls not degreased from debris
*plus more...

On 7/15/2009, I sent a registered letter to Jason Siegel demanding a refund of my $601.75, since he had not performed the repairs he charged me for, and had caused more repairs to be necessary. He REFUSED the letter and it was returned to me, unopened.

On 7/20/2009, I left a message with Jason Siegel stating that I had attempted to solve this problem appropriately, and would now be pursuing criminal charges against him.

On 7/23/2009, I filed a police report with the Chesterfield Twp. Police Department, who has jurisdiction over the location where the 2nd and more detailed solicitation of arson for insurance fraud occurred. I also plan to report this person to the Michigan DEQ for disposing of hazardous materials improperly (gasoline and used oil) and after the Chesterfield Twp. dectives have finished their investigation, I plan to sue to recoup the money extorted from me in order to obtain the safe return of my property.

Copy of the registered letter, which Jason Siegel refused to sign for and had returned to me:

JULY 14, 2009
Mr. Seigel,

As you may recall, my husband contacted you on 7/1/09 through your business advertisement on the internet, regarding a repair on the 1992 Johnson outboard motor on my 1984 Bonito bass boat.

Since your company is a mobile repair service, you told my husband that you would come to our home to repair the problems we were experiencing with the motor. Those problems involved the motor being hard to start when cold, but then running fine after warming up.

You then stated that you realized that your staff would be near my home, and if I allowed Rick Siegel and your other employee to pick up my boat to take it to your repair facility, you would have it repaired and returned to me the next day. I agreed, and on Thursday, 7/2/2009, my boat was taken by your staff. Rick Siegel signed a notice of receipt of the boat.

On Tuesday, 7/7/2009, my husband called you for an update on the status of the repair. You stated that the boat was repaired, running properly, and was ready to be picked up. You set a pick up time of approximately 8:30 pm.

My husband and I arrived at your home, where you now had the boat located, at the appointed time, only to find your staff still working on the motor. We left for about two hours, to allow enough time to finish the repair. When we returned, the boat was no longer in your driveway next to the house, but was now parked in the street in front of your neighbor's home. You and your staff had still not repaired the motor.

At 10:30 that evening, you stated that the boat would not be finished that day, after all, and that you would continue to work on it, fix it properly, and deliver it to my home the following day, Wednesday 7/8/2009. At that time, I supplied you with a trailer hitch so the boat could be brought back to me. You have not returned this hitch, nor did you repair and return the boat, as promised.

On Friday, 7/10/2009, I personally contacted you. At that time, you said the boat had finally been repaired, was working properly, and that you would deliver it to my home that evening. You never brought the boat, nor did you call to say that you were not going to be delivering it.

On Saturday, 7/11/2009, I contacted the police to assist in recovering my boat. Officer B. of the Hamburg Township Police Department contacted you to instruct you to return the boat immediately. You told the officer that you would deliver it to my home that evening at 6:00 pm.

Since you had frequently failed to repair or return the boat, had given no explanation of why you continued to keep the boat, refused to answer or return phone calls, I knew that you would, yet again, not deliver the boat. For these reasons, among others, I refused to wait for you or your staff to deliver the boat and insisted upon picking the boat up that day, at a time determined by you, to be at your convenience. You stated that I could arrive at 6:00 pm at your repair facility, to receive the boat in a repaired and properly running condition. Later that day, you called to change the pick up time to 7:00 pm.

I paid the repair bill of $601.75 in cash (which you demanded intead of a check, as we had agreed upon earlier) and I received a signed statement from you acknowledging the receipt of the cash in exchange for services and repairs to the boat motor. I took the boat home.

The next morning, Sunday, 7/12/2009, I attempted to start the boat. It does not run. It is in worse condition after being in your possession than it was before you or your staff touched it. I immediately took the boat to a local marine repair shop to have it repaired properly.

The mechanic at that facility has a copy of the list of repairs you provided to me on the bill for your services. He is in the process of evaluating whether or not those repairs were performed and is also repairing the damage done to the motor by your company, Performance Mobile Marine Services.

Not only did you fail to repair my boat, you actually caused further damage that I will have to pay another mechanic to repair. You have not fulfilled your obligation to repair the motor and yet, knowing this, still accepted payment for services that were not performed.

In addition to these problems, I find it very suspicious that after your multiple promises stating that you would be arriving at my home, with my newly repaired boat in tow, that you did not even have my address. It would have been impossible for you to return the boat without asking for my address, which you did not ask for until the day you were forced to return the boat, and needed my address to write up the repair order.

I am demanding that you refund the amount paid, $601.75. I will accept a money order from a reputable provider or a cashier's check. Payment should be made payable to me (as undersigned) and sent to my mailing address, listed below, within 5 business days of your receipt of this letter.


TLS
Pinckney, Michigan
U.S.A.