Contractor charged with defrauding Long Beach homeowners

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An Amityville man has been charged with defrauding Long Beach homeowners in a $200,000 grand-larceny scheme, officials said Tuesday.

Peter Ferrigan, owner of PBF Home Improvements, was charged Monday with second degree grand larency, and first-degree scheme to defraud, the Nassau County District Attorney’s office said.

Ferrigan, who pleaded not guilty, was released of his own recognizance.

He is due back in court on Dec. 1.

“This defendant took on home improvement projects for two Long Beach residents and allegedly left them high and dry, stealing a total of nearly $200,000 of their payments without completing construction,” District Attorney Anne Donnelly said in a statement.

“Ferrigan allegedly spent the money on personal expenses, including airline tickets and jewelry, and even used a portion of the funds stolen from one victim to pay for construction-related expenses for the other victim he was defrauding,” she added.

David Arpino, Ferrigan’s attorney with an office in Hauppauge, told LIBN that “Mr. Ferrigan is presumed innocent under the law, and we look forward to seeing the evidence” against his client from the Nassau County District Attorney.

Donnelly said that, according to the charges, the defendant, and his company allegedely entered into a home improvement contract with a homeowner on or about July 25, 2019, for the demolition and new construction of the victim’s home on Arizona Avenue in Long Beach. The victim gave the defendant $852,095 per the contract to be used solely for the construction project. The defendant allegedly did not complete the construction of the home.

Bank records revealed that from the period between Aug. 5, 2019, and Jan. 19, 2021, the defendant allegedly spent in excess of $170,000 of the homeowner’s funds on expenses related to other construction jobs and personal expenses, officials said. The defendant also allegedly made cash withdrawals and transferred assets into his own bank account.

In an earlier alleged scheme, the defendant entered into a contract with another homeowner for a construction project on California Street in Long Beach beginning in November 2017. The victim homeowner gave Ferrigan approximately $268,000 to be used solely for the construction on her home. The defendant allegedly did not complete construction of the home.

A subsequent review of bank records for the period between Sept. 30, 2020, and Oct. 27, 2020, revealed the defendant allegedly misappropriated approximately $28,000 of the victim’s funds for business and personal expenses unrelated to the construction project, including airline tickets, jewelry, loan payments, and for expenses related to the construction project on Arizona Avenue.