Vernon Police Charge Two Brothers with Home Improvement Fraud

Two Hebron brothers are under arrest and are now facing several charges after in March 2015, Vernon Police Detectives received information from Glastonbury Police about a possible fraud involving an elderly resident.

Vernon Detectives began an investigation and located the elderly victim. The victim lived alone and had been approached by two brothers, Wesley Zaino and David Zaino about conducting some home repairs. The brothers were doing business under the name “Zaino Construction.”

Through a lengthy investigation, Vernon detectives determined the elderly victim had paid the Zaino brothers a total of approximately $49,484.52 for home repairs between June 2014 and March 2015. These repairs included a new roof, painting, curtains, flooring, sidewalk repair, electrical wiring, and other miscellaneous improvements.

Although the victim paid fully for the work, very little of it had been completed. Most of the work that had been completed was of substandard quality that did not pass inspection. As an example, the brothers stripped the shingles from more than half the victim’s roof in October 2014 and when detectives began investigating in March 2015, the victim’s roof was still haphazardly covered with only a tarp and there had been water damage inside the home.

Police determined that the Zaino brothers were not state licensed contractors. The brothers could account for only a small portion of the money paid to them by the victim, despite the fact almost none of the work had been completed. The brothers did not apply for building permits for any of the work.

Further, the Zaino brothers allegedly stole jewelry from the victim while they had access to her house. This jewelry was pawned at area pawn shops. Some of this jewelry was recovered. It is alleged that the jewelry stolen by Wesley Zaino totaled approximately $5,700 and the amount allegedly stolen by David Zaino totaled approximately $1000.

The Zaino brothers were taken into custody by the Hebron Resident Trooper’s office on Thursday based on the warrants held by the Vernon Police Department.

Wesley Zaino, 26, of 58 Elizabeth Dr. is charged with first-degree larceny, first-degree conspiracy to commit larceny, second-degree larceny, second-degree conspiracy to commit larceny, third-degree burglary, third-degree larceny, and making home Improvements without a license.

Wesley Zaino’s bond is $100,000 cash/surety on the Vernon charges and he is being presented in Rockville Court on Thursday. Additionally, Wesley Zaino was charged with two failure to appear warrants. The first warrant was held by East Hampton police for second-degree failure to appear, with a $2,500 cash/surety bond. The second warrant was held by Wethersfield Police for first-degree failure to appear with a $10,000 cash/surety bond.

David Zaino, 27, of 58 Elizabeth Dr., is charged with first-degree larceny, first-degree conspiracy to commit larceny, second-degree larceny, second-degree conspiracy to commit larceny, third-degree burglary, fifth-degree larceny, and making home improvements without a license. David Zaino’s bond is $75,000 cash/surety and he is being presented in Rockville Court Thursday.

Police are continuing to investigate and believe there may be other victims. Anyone who may have been a victim of the Zaino brothers is encouraged to contact Vernon Detective Charles Hicking at 860- 872-9126 ext. 224.

Police remind people to verify the credentials of anyone they are considering hiring for home improvements. Home improvement contractors must be licensed through the State of Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection and licenses can be verified on the State of Connecticut website.

Wesley Zaino and David Zaino. Photos courtesy of the Vernon Police Department.