Jesse Van Boxtel appears in Outagamie County Court for his initial appearance. PC: Fox 11 Online
APPLETON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — More than one month after criminal charges were filed against and a summons was issued for Jesse Van Boxtel, the owner of Millennium Construction, he made his first court appearance Tuesday.
Van Boxtel is facing multiple counts of theft by contractor greater than $100,000, along with wire fraud and loan fraud, in what authorities say was a large Ponzi scheme.
A $1 million signature bond was set for the Oshkosh contractor. It was an unusual scene in Outagamie County court, as Van Boxtel’s alleged victims addressed the judge during his initial appearance. The prosecutor asked the judge to allow the victims listed in the criminal complaint to be heard before his bond was decided.
“On the impact that this case has affected our supper club and our family, we’ve been waiting for this to happen for the last couple years,” said Geri Guyette, owner of Black Otter Supper Club in Hortonville.
According to investigators, Van Boxtel was commingling money from multiple Millennium Construction projects, including the supper club and work in Oshkosh at Woodstock Village, Camp Zion in Door County and Duck Creek Landing in Brown County.
The complaint says, instead of paying subcontractors and suppliers, Van Boxtel was using that money for lavish purchases for himself, such as homes in Hawaii.
His victims also claim the work his company did was incomplete and delayed.
“Personally, as a victim, we know he’s been moving around a lot, and it’s just been a lot for each of us to handle this and be stuck with the mess that we’re trying to clean up. And we want to make sure he is participating in this process and that we protect ourselves,” said Logan Jungbacker with Woodstock Village.
The victims went as far as asking the judge to not allow Van Boxtel to continue working as a contractor or be in charge of other people’s money.
Terry Prints with Camp Zion said, “We’d like to ask that all available assets should be frozen pending trial, sentencing, and this includes proceeds from the last Hawaiian home that was sold just a few months ago.”
Van Boxtel’s attorney reminded the court his client is innocent until proven guilty, claiming Van Boxtel has very few assets left after he had to shut down Millennium Construction at the end of 2024, when a civil case in Brown County led to his bank account being frozen.
“There have been a number of civil suits filed. He has been a participant in every civil suit that has been raised to date,” said Dan Flaherty. He added, “Millennium went out of business at the end of 2024 as a result of that freezing. He is currently employed on a full-time basis at a construction company in Oshkosh.”
In addition to the $1 million signature bond, Van Boxtel has to surrender his passport. He’s not allowed to leave the state unless he’s traveling to Florida or Hawaii on business, and he’s to have no contact with the victims.
He will be back in court Feb. 11 for his preliminary hearing.
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