Fleeing Buffalo-Area Homebuilder Nabbed In Louisiana; Gets Shipped Back To NY For Prison Time After Ripping Off Customers

From the Office of the New York Attorney General:

• Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo [...] announced that a corrupt Buffalo-area homebuilder has been sentenced to prison for ripping off his customers for tens of thousands of dollars. Steven Wisniewski, former owner of Elite Custom Homes, was sentenced for grand larceny in Erie County today to 5 to 15 years in prison [...] In separate related charges brought by the Erie County District Attorney, Wisniewski was also sentenced to 2 1/3 to 7 years and 1 1/3 to 4 years to be served consecutively for a total sentence of 8 2/3 to 26 years, the maximum sentence. Wisniewski pleaded guilty to second-degree grand larceny last September. Wisniewski was originally scheduled for a court appearance on January 8, 2009, but he failed to appear. He was subsequently caught in Louisiana in March and brought back to western New York.

• “Wisniewski ripped off hard-working New Yorkers and then tried fleeing from the law,” said Attorney General Cuomo. “This so-called home contractor left one family with little more than a hole in the ground. He also tarnished the hard-earned reputations of all honest workers in the building trades.”

• According to the felony complaint, [...] Wisniewski and [one couple] agreed on a contract for construction of a new 2,300 square-foot home and 600 square-foot garage [...] for $207,500. The family made several substantial payments to Wisniewski for labor and materials, but he never delivered, other than installing a construction driveway in October 2006 and installing concrete walls and footers for the basement in January 2007. Despite repeated requests, Wisniewski never refunded any of the money. The Office of the Attorney General hired a licensed contractor from Buffalo to assess the value of the work performed, which estimated to be $33,572. Of the down payments made to Wisniewski, the family lost $120,000.

For more, see Attorney General Cuomo Announces Buffalo Area Homebuilder Sentenced To Prison For Grand Larceny (Steven Wisniewski, former owner of Elite Custom Homes, caught in Louisiana after fleeing justice in western New York, gets maximum sentence).

For more on homeowners left in the lurch due to actions by builders/contractors, go here, go here, go here, go here, and go here.

Go here for other posts on other home improvement contractors hammered by the NY AG. Cuomo hammers contractors StiffingContractorsTheta