An unlicensed Queens contractor has been charged with bilking five Queens homeowners out of more than $9,000 paid to him for heating repairs and other work to their residences. The contractor allegedly demanded down payments, then failed to do the work. He allegedly misrepresented himself as being licensed although he is not licensed.
According to Queens District Attorney Richard Brown ,“The victims in this case, it is alleged, hired the defendant and paid him substantial amounts of money for work that he never performed. In some instances, the victims – including the elderly – were left without heat in winter.”
The D.A. cautioned consumers to beware when hiring a home improvement contractor, citing defective or incomplete home improvement repairs to be among the top consumer complaints received by his office. “ To avoid being a victim of a home repair scheme, consumers should request and check a contractor’s references and check with the proper city agencies to ensure that he is licensed.”
The defendant was identified as Alfred Lakas, 57, a.k.a., Al’s Heating Service, a.k.a., Al’s Heating and Air, of 28-05 172nd St. in Flushing, Queens. Lakas was arraigned and charged with third-degree grand larceny, third-degree criminal possession of stolen property, fourth-degree grand larceny, fourth-degree criminal possession of stolen property, first-degree scheme to defraud, petit larceny, fifth-degree criminal possession of stolen property, false advertising, and violating the city’s administrative code (AC 28-408.1 master plumbing license required).
According to the charges, between 2010 and 2011, the defendant misrepresented himself to five customers in Queens as well as in advertisements posted on the internet.
Laskas took money in the form of down payments for work from several people, totalling thousands of dollars and never performed any of the work he contracted to do for the homeowners he was hired by.
The complaint includes charges concerning numerous other homeowners all of whom gave the defendat down payments and never received any services.
Lakas was released without bail and ordered to return to court on June 26, when he faces up to seven years in prison if convicted.
