Attorney General Kelly A. Ayotte announced today that Douglas Erickson pled guilty yesterday in Rockingham County Superior Court to one felony charge of perjury. Douglas Erickson operated a basement waterproofing business under the name of Dry-Co Basement Waterproofing. He also operated the same kind of business under the name of Seacoast Waterproofing.

The Consumer Protection and Antitrust Bureau received over 70 complaints from consumers against Douglas Erickson and his businesses. The nature of the complaints was that the consumers paid for basement waterproofing and Mr. Erickson and his business either failed to perform any of the contracted for work, performed only part of the work or failed to perform the work in a workmanlike manner.

The State filed a civil action against Erickson in 2004. In January of 2005, the State and Erickson entered into a settlement agreement which required Erickson to pay $50,000 to consumers for restitution. Prior to the settlement, the State required Erickson to complete a sworn financial affidavit on which he listed his assets. After the settlement agreement was approved by the court, the State discovered that Erickson had lied on his financial affidavit by not listing all of his assets.

The State filed four criminal perjury charges against Erickson. In exchange for his guilty plea to one of the perjury charges, the State dropped three of the charges. As a condition of his sentence, Erickson must pay the State an additional $75,000 for consumer restitution by February 1, 2007. If he fails to do so, he will be sentenced to 60 days at the House of Corrections. Erickson will also be placed on probation for a period of five years.

Attorney General Ayotte said, "Lying under oath is a serious matter which will not be tolerated by the State. Our goal is to protect consumers from unscrupulous businesses and if an individual lies under oath in an effort to avoid his or her restitution obligations to consumers, we will aggressively pursue that person."

If you have been a victim of unfair or deceptive business acts or practices, Attorney General Ayotte urges you to report your experience to her Consumer Protection and Antitrust Bureau by calling the Consumer Hotline toll free at 1-888-468-4454, or by visiting the Bureau's website at http://doj.nh.gov/consumer and filling out and returning a consumer complaint form.