State police arrested developer Thomas Primeau, 56, of Trappers Lane, Wednesday for obtaining money under false pretenses and forgery, the Providence Journal has reported.

He was arrested after the State Police Financial Crimes Unit investigated a complaint from someone who had hired Primeau to build a house in East Greenwich.

Primeau, owner of Philip Ryan Homes, entered a “cost plus contract” in which Primeau would bill the customer for the cost of the work plus a 12 percent management fee, said a press release from the State Police.

The customer found $28,213.86 in fraudulent invoices. The investigation found that Primeau kept the funds for his own use with none of his subcontractors sharing in the overcharges.

Primeau has a long history of building housing in East Greenwich, starting with Harbor Heights condominiums on Crompton Avenue built in the late 1980s.

More recently, he ran into problems with the town over his failure to complete town-dictated finish work of Long Meadow Farms, a development off Frenchtown Road.

Primeau was arraigned in Kent County District Court and released on his own recognizance.