Ohio Man Charged In Home Repair Scam That Targeted Elderly, Unwitting Lenders

The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that a joint investigation by State and Federal authorities have resulted in an indictment against Jerry Ponsky, of Chagrin Falls, Ohio and five others of nearly 90 counts of racketeering, theft, money laundering, forgery and other crimes. In essence, they are accused of using bogus home repair and financing schemes to rip off the elderly of their home equity. Authorities say that he left dozens of victims buried in debt and living in homes left derelict by unfinished repairs. According to the article, the authorities describe the scam as follows:

• "Ponsky and his collaborators would inundate run-down neighborhoods with leaflets and pin-up fliers advertising "federally guaranteed" home-improvement programs for senior citizens. When older people responded, Ponsky and his collaborators would create phony, inflated appraisals of their homes' value; use those fake appraisals to line up loans from unwitting lenders; and then pocket huge chunks of the money, leaving the victims buried in debt."
• "In some cases, Ponsky's purported "remodeling crews" would gut all or part of the victims' homes until they vanished after financing came through."

For the whole story, see Chagrin Falls man indicted for home-repair scam that preyed on elderly.

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