Contractor Bilked Superstorm Sandy Victim Out Of Nearly $70,000

TOMS RIVER, NJ - An Ocean County Superior Court judge recently convicted a New York contractor for bilking a Tuckerton homeowner out of almost $70,000 for Superstorm Sandy work he barely performed, a spokesman for the Ocean County Prosecutor's said.

Che W. Smith, 47, of Berne, NY was convicted of third-degree theft in a bench trial before Ocean County Superior Court Judge James J. Blaney, said spokesman Al Della Fave.

Smith was paid $76,000 for the remediation work on the home.

But an investigation by Detective James Conroy of Prosecutor's Office's Economic Crimes Unit found that he performed little work and misappropriated roughly $70,000 of the money, Della Fave said.

Smith is tentatively slated to be sentenced next month.

Photo: Ocean County Prosecutor's Office