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Westchester County resident Martin Ward, age 27 of Yonkers, was arrested on Tuesday, May 14 for the scam, which occurred on Long Island months prior.
In March, a Levittown homeowner reached out to Ward after searching Google for someone to fix the cracks in their home’s foundation.
The victim, whose identity has not been released, set up an appointment for the next day with Maichel Woods of Empire Foundation and Masonry (authorities allegedly discovered that Ward had been using “Maichel Woods” as an alias).
Ward took a payment of $70,200 from the victim without performing any construction on the home, police said.
Though the victim repeatedly tried to get back in touch with Ward, the only other response was to ask for another $36,000, authorities alleged, which the homeowner did not pay.
Ward is charged with grand larceny.
He pleaded not guilty at his arraignment and is next due to appear at First District Court in Hempstead on Thursday, May 23.
Additionally, detectives with the Nassau County Police encouraged anyone who feels they may have been a victim of Ward’s to contact their local precinct or call 911.
All calls will remain anonymous.
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