Somerville Business Owner Charged After Harassing Customer Online

A Somerville business owner is facing charges after he allegedly harassed a customer via email and falsely accused him of being a sex offender in an online post, The MetroWest Daily News reports.

Richard Froais, 52, the owner of Universal Home Repair, is also charged with posting advertisements on Craigslist under the victim’s name, who is a resident of Natick.

According to prosecutors, the victim hired Froais’ Somerville-based contracting company to remodel his home’s bathroom. Following the work, the man posted a negative review of Froais’ work on Yelp.com.

In the Yelp.com review, the victim claimed Froais failed to complete the work that he was hired to do. “Bottom line: He gulped 2/3 of the project money by doing 1.5 days worth of demo work,” the review read. “Stay away from this company and it’s owner. Do not be a victim like me.”

Froais began harassing the victim after reading the negative review, investigators said. He allegedly fired off an email, accusing the victim of being cheap. Another post accused the victim of “being in possession of child pornography and of being a sex offender.” Froais then placed numerous ads on Craigslist and attached the victim’s phone number to the posts.

In court, prosecutors made it known that the victim was not a sex offender.

The Somerville resident was arrested at his home on 18 Nevada Street after police obtained a search warrant in connection to the advertisements.

Froais was arrested and charged with criminal harassment.