An Iowa man has been accused of running a tree-trimming scam.

Matthew Brown, 25, was charged Nov. 25, 2013, with second-degree theft.

According to an Iowa City police complaint, Brown and another individual stopped at the victim’s residence and asked to trim trees. Brown and the other individual cut down one small evergreen tree, trimmed the tops out of two evergreens, and cut the limbs off two other trees. The victim was charged $2,200, the complaint said.

The victim made the check out to the business name on the card they provided, but she was told to rewrite the check payable to Brown. The check was cashed immediately after leaving the residence, the complaint said.

The bank personnel wrote down the driver’s license number of the person cashing the check, and it belongs to Brown. A legitimate tree trimming business stated that the work was done incorrectly, and it was unnecessary and incomplete. He said his business would have charged $40 for the trimming, the complaint said. 

Second-degree theft is a Class-D felony.

— by Alison Keim