These people don&#x27;t understand how construction mortgages work. Homeowners don&#x27;t just magically get any amount of money from them; homeowners don&#x27;t actually get any money from them at all. An escrow firm makes payments for contractors&#x27; and suppliers&#x27; verified invoices, <i>directly to the contractors and suppliers</i>. There isn&#x27;t money left over for homeowners, because the point of a construction mortgage is that homeowners aren&#x27;t paying for anything. The bank is paying, and it keeps close track of how much it pays, because banks intend to be repaid.<p>This diesel mechanic had admitted to stealing money; why would anyone (especially a lawyer?!) have believed his goofy theory for how he&#x27;d pay back the theft? <i>If</i> he had a construction mortgage, then <i>that</i> paid for the new house.<p>Where did the money really go? Most likely to the casino. This pattern of obfuscation and denial seems typical of problem gamblers. Perhaps it&#x27;s fitting that the money had originally been gambled on the possibility that some random collection of dudes could create a new 3D printer, and the diesel mechanic just re-gambled it, in a sense.<p>[yes I&#x27;m bitter, but fortunately I&#x27;m just a little over $100 bitter]