Orange County Contractor Accused Of Bilking Home Improvement Clients

NEW WINDSOR, NY — An Orange County man was arrested after being accused of conning people to pay him for home improvement projects that he didn’t actually do.

District Attorney David Hoovler said Thursday that Gary Maldonado, 42, of New Windsor, was arrested by the multi-agency Orange County White Collar Crime Task Force and charged with third-degree grand larceny, first-degree scheme to defraud and first-degree offering a false instrument for filing, felonies.

Prosecutors said Maldonado talked two separate victims into giving him money for the purpose of home improvement projects.

He failed to perform the work as promised and did not refund the victims their money when asked to do so, according to law enforcement.

Maldonado also knowingly filed a fraudulent certificate of liability insurance with the town of Newburgh Building Department.

Hoovler said contractor fraud leaves victims who trust unscrupulous workers without significant sums of money or the work they bargained they were promised.

“While these ill-gotten gains might appear to be easy money to the offenders,” he said, “these are serious crimes.”

Hoovler urged people who are victims of fraud to report the crimes to local authorities so that the perpetrators can be held accountable.