Boise business owner sentenced for writing over $150,000 in fraudulent checks

60-year-old Michael J Eisenbeiss Jr, a business owner in Boise, has been sentenced for 16 criminal charges after he fraudulently wrote checks, withheld funds, and forged lien waivers. Eisenbeiss was found guilty on all charges.

Ada County District Judge James Cawthorn sentenced Eisenbeiss to up to 17 years in prison with a two-year fixed term on July 22. Eisenbeiss was also ordered to pay $352,683.03 in restitution to his victims.

This defendant’s conduct left a trail of victims who were negatively impacted by his criminal conduct,” said Ada County Prosecutor Jan Bennetts. “The Ada County Sheriff’s Office spent over 500 hours investigating this case. I appreciate law enforcement’s thorough investigation, the Ada County jury’s time and attention during the trial, and my trial team’s hard work on this case.”

Eisenbeiss was a part owner of Azure Properties LLC and between September 2018 and April 2019, he contracted work from several Boise businesses to build residential homes in Eagle and Star.

Eisenbeiss fraudulently wrote over $150,000 worth of checks while knowing that he did not have the funds or credit to cover the labor expenses.

Eisenbeiss took money from his clients under the guise that it would be paid to sub-contractors, but he instead kept the money.

An Ada County jury found Eisenbeiss guilty on all charges in June 2024, his charges included 12 counts of issuing an insufficient funds check, two counts of grand theft, and two counts of forgery.