MUDDY CREEK TWP — A former employee at a suburban Pittsburgh business is accused of demanding kickbacks from the owners of a local subcontracting company.

State police allege Gary P. Hite, 33, of Muddy Creek Township demanded that Shane and Jennifer Young provide 10 percent of their earnings to his company.

The purported scheme cost the couple, owners of J&S Painting and Repair in Muddy Creek Township, nearly $3,000.

Hite on Tuesday turned himself in to authorities on a felony charge of theft by deception and a misdemeanor charge of demanding property to secure employment.

He was released on $5,000 unsecured bail following arraignment. A preliminary hearing is set for Feb. 22 at the office of District Judge William O’Donnell in Slippery Rock.

Police on Jan. 27 began investigating the suspected kickback case that targeted the Youngs’ small painting business.

The Youngs told police that their firm in August 2016 became an approved contractor for FireDEX of Pittsburgh, where Hite was then working as a program coordinator, according to court documents.

Shane Young recounted that after his firm completed several jobs, he started receiving text messages from Hite advising him not to forget about the 10 percent in kickbacks he owed the defendant.

Young, however, dismissed those texts as a joke, a police affidavit said.

But when the local contractor did not kick in with the payment, according to investigators, Hite threatened to end his business relationship with the Youngs.

“(Shane) Young related he did ask Hite if this was company policy,” documents said, “and he was told this is what all project coordinators ask for.”

The victims paid the purported kickbacks until late December, when a relative advised them the practice was unlawful.

Police allege the defendant cheated the couple out of $2,800.

Hite declined to comment Tuesday. It was not known if he has an attorney.

A telephone call to David Hood, president of FireDEX, was not returned Tuesday.

But according to a statement posted on its website, the company was “shocked and deeply disappointed” to learn of the charges against Hite and immediately fired him after the allegations surfaced.

“FireDEX of Pittsburgh has never and will never tolerate any form of employee misconduct such as this,” the statement said, “and has always and will always respond to such conduct as it did here by involving law enforcement immediately.”

The company, which in the statement touted its “high standards of integrity and professionalism” during its 30 years in operation, also reimbursed the Youngs for their loss attributed to Hite’s alleged wrongdoing.