A state Construction Industries Division investigator has obtained a search warrant to access documents that could help determine if a luxury-home builder — whose business folded in 2008 — should face criminal fraud charges.

When home-builder William "Kal" Kalinowski closed up shop in 2008 he left behind a trail of unfinished houses, unpaid subcontractors and unsatisfied bank loans. He blamed the economy.

But according to an affidavit for the warrant filed Friday by Construction Industries Division investigator John Tapia, the agency has reason to believe that Kalinowski "may have" committed securities "fraud over $20,000" and sale of unregistered securities.

The CID investigation was prompted in part by a complaint filed with the agency by Michael D'Alfonso Jr. and Stefan Lark, both of whom invested in projects the builder proposed before the collapse of his business in the fall of 2008.

In the document, D'Alfonso — a Santa Fe Realtor who invested personally and recruited other investments for Kalinowski projects in the Las Campanas subdivision northwest of Santa Fe — alleges that Kalinowski "refuses to and/or will not provide" an explanation for about $500,000 that D'Alfonso and Lark provided to fund his projects.

"We are trying to understand where a lot of that money went," D'Alfonso said.

According to the affidavit for the search warrant, the investigator has reason to believe that Kalinowski may have used money paid out from construction loans for personal benefit and not to pay the people who did the work on houses Kalinowski was charged with building.

About 130 liens — from unpaid electricians, plumbers, interior decorators and other construction-industry workers — have been filed against homes that Kalinowski did complete, according to the affidavit.

Almost all of those homes have been the subject of foreclosures.

D'Alfonso declined to disclose exactly how much money he personally lost when Kalinowski defaulted on loans for projects in which had invested, but he said he had raised about $1.9 million from others for two of the projects. He added that the impact on the unpaid subcontractors and lot owners who lost property when the bank called in Kalinowski's loans has been considerable.

"There is a big group of victims here," D'Alfonso said.

John Rotman, owner of Rotman Electric, who has filed liens against some of the property his crews worked on, said Kalinowski owed his company about $103,000.

"It hurt us really badly," said Rotman, who added that "it's about time" the state began investigating the issue.

Kalinowski, who did business under several names including K2 Construction and Barranca Builders, could not be reached for comment. According to several sources — including D'Alfonso and Rotman — Kalinowski is believed to be living in Massachusetts.

Contact Phaedra Haywood at 986-3068 or phaywood@sfnewmexican.com.