Former Oberg Roofing Owner Charged with $240K Fraud; Arrested in Missouri After Fleeing State

(KNSI) – The former majority owner of St. Cloud-based Oberg Roofing and Remodeling is charged with five felonies for allegedly defrauding customers out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

According to the criminal complaint, Caleb Oberg took nearly $240,000 from 23 customers between July 2023 and September 2024 to perform work, but he never picked up a hammer. During that time, suppliers started to cut the company off, and customers began receiving lien notices, legal claims against their property for unpaid bills to suppliers for materials used in their projects. The company began locking its doors during the day, so people looking for information on their project couldn’t get in and confront staff. When they called Oberg Roofing, employees were told to make something up about why they got the notice and why their work wasn’t done.

In October of 2024, the company closed its doors for good. In November, the Stearns County Sheriff’s Office says it started getting multiple complaints from customers who learned the business had closed and they had already paid for work that was never started.

Investigators talked with former staff and Oberg’s business partner, who stated he was in charge of sales. He owned 40% of the company, and Oberg was in charge of all operational decisions. The business partner explained he told Oberg in the summer of 2024 to quit taking jobs because they couldn’t get them done. He told deputies that he thinks Oberg paid “twice as much” as he should have for their new location on West St. Germain Street, and that led to the company closing.

Oberg Roofing’s bookkeeper told investigators that Oberg was spending a lot of money on consultants and that 2023 was a “slow” year. The bookkeeper also told Oberg that by Minnesota law, he needed to keep customers’ deposits in a separate account. Oberg refused and ran the entire company out of one account and never told staff to stop selling.

Court documents also say the person in charge of accounts receivable for Oberg Roofing told law enforcement that Oberg took out a $750,000 loan to try and get supplies to finish jobs. Separately, he used all of the money from customers’ deposits for operational costs. In January of 2024, Oberg sold a company truck to cover the down payment on a $160,000 Corvette.

Investigators learned 44-year-old Oberg left the state shortly after the business’s closing was reported in the media and was being sued in civil court. He turned up in Missouri with a burner phone and had put his car in his wife’s name.

On Wednesday, July 9th, a warrant was issued for Oberg on five felony fraud charges of over $35,000. On Thursday, July 10th, he was arrested in Christian County, MO and was being held on $50,000 bond. Stearns County officials are waiting for him to be extradited back to the county to answer to the charges.

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