People in Oklahoma want to know where Grant Cole, manager of Xite Homes and Oklahoma New Homes Direct, has gone. Some believe he may have fled the state or even the country.

Last week, multiple material mechanics liens were filed against Rogers County properties Oct. 26 and 27. Subcontractors alleging non-payment by Oklahoma New Homes Direct and Xite Homes of Broken Arrow filed multiple liens against various properties in Rogers County including sites in Claremore, Verdigris and Catoosa.

Tulsa media reports as many as 40 area home buyers could be affected.

The Rogers County Sheriff’s Office confirms the “preponderance” of cases were in Tulsa County. Those cases were forwarded to Broken Arrow.

Now, sources say the Federal Bureau of Investigation has taken over the case.

The FBI will not confirm or deny any investigations, but no warrant for any individual named Grant Cole has been issued at this time.

A web site for Xite and Oklahoma New Homes has shut down and two phone numbers associated with the businesses are nonfunctional. One number is no longer in service and the other is a perpetual busy signal.

Homeowners say they are victims of an apparent scam by company manager Grant Cole. Subcontractors including electricians, plumbers and carpenters have been left empty-handed after providing goods and services with their only recourse to file liens against the other victims, home buyers.

The alleged home contracting scam may be a repeat of a scam run in Georgia a little over a decade ago.

In 1997, Stuart Clay Cole was charged with theft-by-conversion in Clayton County, Georgia for taking nearly $500,000 in deposits for new homes, most of which were never started as reported by the Atlanta Business Chronicle. Stuart Cole was also known as Stewart Cole.

In Oklahoma, most of the homes are near completion, but subcontractors have not been paid. Their recourse is to file a lien against the property. The home buyer, not Cole, is responsible for settling that debt.

The Oklahoma projects may have moved further along than those in Georgia did due to the Xite Homes name. In previous years, Xite was a legitimate business.

One Claremore couple, Jeremy and Erinn Bisceglia, were named in multiple liens. Jeremy said he and his wife saved for a home and carefully checked out the company before doing business with them. Now, said Jeremy, they may end up paying close to double for their home.

For the Bisceglias and many others like them, Cole stole a dream and crushed hopes of financial stability they had worked hard to achieve. Their new Claremore residence is approximately six weeks from completion, but with the money gone, work has stalled.

It’s a story being told by Xite and Oklahoma New Homes customers across Northeast Oklahoma.