An elderly victim in Shoreline lost $435,000 to the scheme. According to authorities, another victim in Bellevue lost over $673,000.
SEATTLE – Two brothers accused of posing as home repair contractors to defraud elderly homeowners were sentenced last month to 18 months in prison.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Patrick McDonagh and Matthew McDonagh were arrested in mid-June and charged federally in mid-July. The brothers pleaded guilty in September to conspiracy to commit wire fraud charges.
The U.S. Attorney's Office said the brothers would likely be deported after their prison sentences. One of the brothers is charged with fraud in Ireland.
“The defendants in this case took advantage of our elderly neighbors by coming into their homes and spreading lies about seemingly urgent repairs so that the homeowner could write all the checks needed to maintain their homes,” said United States Attorney Tessa Gorman States. “In Washington State, our elderly were defrauded of approximately $88 million last year. Our senior fraud prosecutors are doing everything they can to hold fraudsters accountable.”
According to court documents, the McDonaghs were part of a group that traveled around the country defrauding homeowners by claiming the home was in dire need of repairs. Authorities said the group primarily targeted older people in the program. An elderly homeowner in the Shoreline neighborhood lost about $435,000.
Investigators said the men first approached the victim in January, claiming the victim had a hole in his roof. The men offered to repair the hole and remove the moss from the roof. According to investigators, within days, the brothers pressured the victim into writing them checks totaling $15,000, $20,000 and $26,000 for their services. According to court documents, the men claimed the victim's foundation had cracked and they needed to repair it with a “titanium tie rod system.”
Although there was no hole in the roof and the foundation did not fail, investigators said the men dug trenches and poured concrete to make it appear that work was being done. Every day the brothers pressured the victim to write more checks. At one point, the men demanded an additional $20,000 for “taxes,” according to court documents filed in the case.
Court documents revealed that the McDonaghs required the elderly victim to wire $200,000 to a third party for building materials. Some of the transferred funds were confiscated by the authorities.
An investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) linked the McDonaghs to complaints of contractor fraud in Oregon and Illinois. Authorities said Patrick McDonagh told three different victims in Oregon that he was working with a legitimate construction company, even though he wasn't. These homeowners paid him up to $29,000 for foundation work that was never completed.
According to court documents, Matthew McDonagh claimed he could resurface a victim's driveway and rebuild a retaining wall in Illinois for $99,000. After the victim paid $75,000, the work was not done properly and the victim's home was damaged, authorities said.
The U.S. Attorney's Office said the brothers agreed to pay restitution to victims in the case, including $235,000 for a victim in Shoreline, more than $673,000 for a victim in Bellevue, $75,000 for a victims in Illinois and approximately $50,000 for three victims in Oregon.
The FBI cited several warning signs of contractor fraud:
- The contractor knocks on your door looking for a deal because he is “local” and uses aggressive sales tactics.
- The contractor pressures you to make an immediate hiring decision.
- The contractor only accepts cash as a method of payment and requires full payment before work begins.
- During the sales conversation, the contractor claims that he still has material left over from a previous job.
Authorities recommend getting multiple estimates for any work you're considering and making sure contractors are licensed and insured. You can search for contractors on the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries website. You can also contact the Better Business Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission to check for complaints against a contractor.