Investigators arrest man accused of promising, but never delivering on, steel pole construction projects

A man was arrested last month over allegedly fraudulent pole building construction projects in Spokane County that investigators say cheated victims out of thousands of dollars for work that was never completed.

Nathaniel D. Brant, 47, was arrested on Feb. 22 on suspicion of theft and forgery, the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release Monday.

Detectives are asking anyone who had business dealings with Brant or his company, R&B Construction, to come forward.

Investigators looked into several reports that Brant took payment for construction projects but didn’t finish and sometimes didn’t even start the projects.

Victims wanted steel pole buildings constructed on their properties and paid tens of thousands of dollars upfront to purchase materials, the news release said. Brant provided excuses at first but eventually just stopped communicating with the victims, they told police.

Detectives identified six recent victims during the course of their investigation but suspect more people could have been defrauded. Brant also used the alias Nathan Rutherford, investigators say.

Anyone with information on Brant is asked to call Crime Check at (509) 459-2233 with reference No. 10159694.