Nebraska contractor accused of business crimes in Iowa City

A 50-year-old construction contractor from Norfolk, Neb., is in the Johnson County Jail Wednesday after officers spent the last year investigating allegations that he engaged in criminal business practices in the area in 2010.

According to a criminal complaint, several citizens walked in to the Johnson County Attorney's Office in January 2010 to complain about Russell Francis Arlen and his “criminal activity.” The investigation initially involved several Johnson County agencies, but the Iowa City Police Department eventually took the lead on the case.

After a year of investigating, detectives believed they had enough evidence to arrest Arlen on suspicion of committing theft by scheduling construction jobs, taking money from property owners and either leaving the jobs undone or setting up subcontractors and not paying them, according to a criminal complaint.

Subcontractors who were not paid took up collections actions, according to the complaint, “leaving the property owners paying double for the work.”

A “conservative” estimate of the value of loss in this case tops $100,000, according to police.

Arlen was arrested last week in Nebraska and extradited early Thursday to the Johnson County Jail, where he's being held in lieu of a $250,000 cash-only bond. He faces a charge of ongoing criminal conduct, a felony.

Arlen currently is listed on the Northern Ponca Housing Authority's web site as a maintenance technician in the Norfolk, Neb., Office. But a woman who answered the authority's phone Thursday said he left the company two months ago.