May 18, 2006

DA Charges 28 Home Contractors

Contractors cheated home owners out of thousands 

MINEOLA, NY – Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice announced today that charges have been filed against 28 home contractors cheating Nassau County residents out of thousands of dollars and often leaving work unfinished or in a hazardous condition.  

Luis Guzman, 36, is being charged with two counts of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, a Class D Felony, Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree, a Class E Felony, and Unlicensed Home Improvement, a Class A Misdemeanor. 

Steve Neary, 36, and Matthew O’Leary, 35, are being charged with Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, a Class D Felony.  Mr. Neary has also been charged with Operating a Home Improvement Business Without a License, a Class A Misdemeanor.  Theodore Callahan, 42, is being charged with Grand Larceny in the Fourth Degree, a Class E Felony and Unlicensed Home Improvement, a Class A Misdemeanor.  Patricia Curley, 35, also known as, Patricia Kilmetis, has been charged with Unlicensed Home Improvement, a Class A Misdemeanor.  John Calvert, 44, has been charged with Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree, a Class E Felony.  In addition, twenty-two unlicensed home contractors have been charged with one count each of Unlicensed Home Improvement, a Class A Misdemeanor. 

Luis Guzman, doing business as Shells and More, contracted with home owners in Nassau and Suffolk Counties.  According to Consumer Affairs Investigators, Mr. Guzman was not licensed to do work in Nassau County until October 1, 2004.  Despite being unlicensed, Mr. Guzman entered into a contract with Shibu Joseph, a home owner in Nassau County, in July, 2004, to add a dormer onto his home and received a down payment of $34,500 to begin the work.  A month later, Mr. Guzman demolished the dormer and the roof of the house, but failed to complete the project.  In March, 2005, and November, 2004, Mr. Guzman contracted with Beata and Robert Szipcynski and Jessica and James Maggio, respectively, to do work on their Nassau County homes.  Mr. and Mrs. Szipcynski gave Mr. Guzman $40,000 to begin work on their home.  Mr. and Mrs. Maggio wrote Mr. Guzman a check for $6,685.00 for kitchen cabinets, however, Mr. Guzman failed to do any work on the Szipcynski home and Mr. and Mrs. Maggio did not receive any cabinets.  The Maggios discovered that the kitchen cabinet supplier had no such order from Mr. Guzman in their records, which a DA Investigator later confirmed.  Mr. Joseph, the Szipcynskis, and the Maggios have all been unable to reach Mr. Guzman.  It is believed that Mr. Guzman and his family fled their Brentwood, NY, home in September, 2005.  The defendant was indicted on these charges on March 10, 2006.  District Attorney Investigators located him in North Carolina and obtained a Governor’s Warrant to extradite Mr. Guzman to Nassau County yesterday to face these charges.   

Steve Neary, doing business as S. Neary Contracting Corporation in Babylon, NY, also known as Alliance Construction Group, an unlicensed home improvement contracting company, received a check from Laura and Nicholas Rubino in May, 2004, in the amount of $12,328.50, which was to be used as an installment payment for the purchase, delivery, and installation of a kitchen granite counter top.  Mr. Neary never purchased or installed the granite counter top and the project was never completed.  The defendant used the money for unrelated business and personal expenses.  Mr. Neary surrendered to the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office this morning. 

Matthew O’Leary, doing business as Deluxe Construction Company in Lawrence, NY, received two checks in May of 2005 from Svetlana and Claudio DeBellis totaling $40,000 to act as a down payment on a project to add a two-story addition onto their home.  One week after the defendant began work on the excavation and foundation he stopped work on that site.  He failed to finish the project and did not return any portion of the $40,000.  Charges were filed against Mr. O’Leary today and an arrest warrant has been issued. 

Theodore Callahan is an unlicensed subcontractor doing business as T.C. Fence in Bay Shore, NY.  He signed a contract with Richard Psillos, a general contractor, on March 4, 2006, in which Mr. Callahan agreed to buy materials and install fences at homes being built by Mr. Psillos in Rockville Centre, NY.  Mr. Psillos gave Mr. Callahan a check for $3,000 to cover the cost of materials and installation of the fences.  Mr. Callahan never returned to the work site, supplied materials, and has not answered or returned any of Mr. Psillos’s phone calls.  Mr. Callahan’s whereabouts are unknown.  Charges were filed against him yesterday and an arrest warrant has been issued. 

Patricia Curley owner of Complete Chimneys, Inc., located in Hicksville, NY, and her employee John Calvert, operated an unlicensed chimney cleaning business.  In total, twenty-six consumer complaints have been made in Nassau County against Complete Chimneys, Inc.  Fourteen of the complaints have common patterns of fraud.  In each case, Mr. Calvert would come to the homes scheduled to have their chimneys cleaned and inspect the chimneys requesting payment in cash so that a lower price could be offered.  While cleaning the chimneys, Mr. Calvert would use scare tactics to frighten the homeowner into believing that their homes were in a total state of emergency and that if their chimneys were not relined with masonry work, the family would suffer from carbon monoxide and soot poisoning.  He appeared to be using a prepared script when speaking to homeowners and insisted on immediate cash payment so that the work could be completed immediately.  In a number of cases, a dangerous condition had been created by improperly completing the unnecessary work.  Mr. Calvert previously owned and operated Nassau Suffolk Chimney, located in Hicksville, NY, a currently unlicensed company.  The defendant has a pending unlicensed home improvement charge filed by this office regarding his operation of Nassau Suffolk Chimney.

The twenty-two home contractors being charged with Operating a Home Improvement Business Without a License, a Class A Misdemeanor are:

Mr. Neary, Mr. O'Leary, Ms. Curley, and Mr. Calvert are being arraigned today in First District Court in Hempstead, NY. Mr. Guzman is being arraigned today in Nassau County Court. The District Attorney's Office filed charges against Mr. O'Leary and Mr, Callahan yesterday and currently has two arrest warrants for defendants so that they may be brought into custody. ADA Beth LaVelle is handling the cases against Mr. Guzman and Mr. Callahan. ADA William Wallace will be handling the cases against Mr. Neary and Mr. O'Leary. ADA Connie Gentile is handling the case against Ms. Curley and Mr. Calvert. All three ADA's are members of the District Attorney's Government and Consumer Frauds Bureau, under Bureau Chief Robert Emmons.

District Attorney Rice would like to thank Commissioner Roger Bogsted and Nassau County Consumer Affairs for their referrals and their assistance in these investigations.

The charges are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.