Contractor Pinched For Pocketing $49K From NJ 'Sandy'-Victimized Homeowner & Misapplying Funds On Subs, Incidentals Unrelated To Contract w/ Property Owner

In Little Egg Harbor, New Jersey, The Sandpaper reports:

• A family of eight who have moved eight times since their home in Little Egg Harbor Township was damaged by Superstorm Sandy have filed charges against their contractor, JBS Construction of Lower Township in Cape May, for spending approximately $49,257 of their Reconstruction, Rehabilitation, Elevation, Mitigation grant on subcontractors and incidentals not related to their contract to raise their house.
  
  On Nov. 17, Joseph and Gayle Crecca were arrested by the Little Egg Harbor Township police on charges of theft and theft by deception in the third degree. Gayle Crecca was released on her own recognizance and Joe Crecca was released on bail. The Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office has not yet determined the degree of the charges, contingent on whether there are more complaints.
  
  The Ryan-Sasta family of two adults, three teens and two children spent last summer in a camper (the oldest daughter had moved out of state) and was nearly homeless as the summer ended and the campground was closing. “We had a week left, and we literally had nowhere to go. I had never been in that position before,” said Penny Ryan. “Then a friend suggested I call all the churches in the area. Finally, St. Paul’s Methodist Church (in New Gretna) said they had a home next to the church that we could live in; otherwise, we would have been on the street. We moved in on Halloween.”
  
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  Ryan alleges nothing was done by the contractor over the winter and spring; in June, Ryan and her husband themselves removed the drywall in the two garages of their 4,000-square-foot home. Joseph Crecca agreed to give them $1,000 back for their labor and did so. In August, some of the materials that had been delivered to the site were missing, and Ryan filed a police report that they had been stolen.
  
  In October, Ryan said she was increasingly frustrated by her living situation and excuses from the Creccas; she asked the Little Egg Harbor police to investigate them for fraud. In an affidavit filed with the court, Mahr said he investigated the contractor’s bank accounts and determined most of the money for the Ryan-Sasta project had been spent. A warrant was issued and executed for the Creccas’ arrest on Nov. 17.

For more, see ‘Sandy’ Family Still Waiting to Move Home After Contractor Takes Money.