April O'Neil / news@WHMI.com

A Howell man who did some contracting work in Detroit has been charged for fraudulently billing the city for contaminated backfill dirt used at various demolition sites.

According to the Michigan Attorney General’s office, 50-year-old David Macdonald of Howell, is accused of fraudulently billing the City of Detroit over $1 million for backfill dirt used a demolished properties that he obtained at no cost, and from contaminated sources.

In 2017, MacDonald was employed by the Den-Man company to lead the company's demolition program. His role included finding backfill for all the demolition sites for which Den-Man was contracted by the City of Detroit to handle.

Den-Man held a contract for backfilling the sites of demolished properties with dirt from approved sources, and billed the city for the acquisition price on the material.

MacDonald repeatedly claimed to have paid for the dirt. Hen then and allegedly lied about the source of the dirt and billed the Detroit Lank Bank Authority (DLBA) for an unknown amount.

Den-Man received over $1.1 million dollars in reimbursement for the backfill dirt.

MacDonald is charged with Conducting a Criminal Enterprise and 11 counts of False Pretenses. It is alleged that MacDonald knowingly obtained the dirt from an unapproved source that did not comply with the terms of the contract or environmental requirements within the State of Michigan.

The properties now need to be tested for environmental quality before moving forward with anymore demolition or construction.

DLBA has agreed to repay $1 million due to monitoring issues in the program.