Home Economy Government Irish national in federal custody for alleged construction scam in R.I., Mass.

Irish national in federal custody for alleged construction scam in R.I., Mass.

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PBN Staff

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04/03/2025

Seal_of_the_United_States_Department_of_Homeland_Security.svg — AN IRISH national is in federal custody for allegedly participating in a multistate fraud operation that scammed homeowners in Rhode Island and Massachusetts through a masonry and construction company, Acting U.S. Attorney Sara Miron Bloom says.

WARWICK – An Irish national is in federal custody for allegedly participating in a multistate fraud operation that scammed homeowners in Rhode Island and Massachusetts through a masonry and construction company, Acting U.S. Attorney Sara Miron Bloom said Thursday. John O’Brien, 28, of Ireland, was charged in U.S. District Court Thursday with wire fraud and

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WARWICK – An Irish national is in federal custody for allegedly participating in a multistate fraud operation that scammed homeowners in Rhode Island and Massachusetts through a masonry and construction company, Acting U.S. Attorney Sara Miron Bloom said Thursday. John O’Brien, 28, of Ireland, was charged in U.S. District Court Thursday with wire fraud and conspiracy. Federal officials said he is the owner of Traditional Masonry and Construction in Boston. He was arrested on March 28 by Homeland Security Investigations for overstaying a tourist visa issued to him in 2021 as part of a joint investigation between the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Warwick and East Providence police departments. The visa had expired in October 2021, officials said. O’Brien was held on an immigration detainer before his appearance in court. According to court documents, O’Brien and others allegedly defrauded property owners by inducing them to pay for home repairs that were not needed and often not completed. O’Brien misrepresented the need for the repairs and services, as well as the qualifications of his purported construction business. The scheme came to the attention of law enforcement when an 83-year-old Warwick resident complained to the Warwick Police Department that he had been defrauded by a contractor. The man reported that O’Brien told him that he observed cracks in the man's house foundation while doing work in his neighborhood. O’Brien offered to professionally repair the foundation and collected $9,500. As work proceeded, O’Brien allegedly claimed that further damage was discovered, revised the costs for repairs and sought an additional $80,000. A home inspector hired by the U.S. Attorney’s Office later reviewed the property and found no evidence the repairs were needed. One Warwick resident, Don Fife, 83, a U.S. Air Force veteran, told WPRI-TV CBS 12 that O’Brien first approached him while working on a neighbor’s house. O’Brien offered to fix the cracking in Fife’s home foundation with no money down, only to ask for thousands of dollars two days later. “I wrote a check for $995, and then the next day there was more damage. And now he said … this is a $95,000 project,” Fife told WPRI. Fife and the company settled for $80,000 however he felt uneasy. However, Warwick police arrived in the neighborhood and to arrest O’Brien. Fife told WPRI some of the employees walked to the back of his yard, took off their sweatshirts, left their tools and jumped his back fence to escape police. Other alleged victims, according to court documents, described similar interactions with O’Brien that began with unsolicited recommendations for small home repairs, followed by O’Brien’s purported discovery of major repairs needed, and often a representation that the homeowner’s foundation was in urgent need of repairs. It is estimated that this scheme has defrauded homeowners out of more than $1 million. At the time of O’Brien’s arrest, investigators allegedly seized from his vehicle hundreds of fliers, identical to the ones handed out to the victims in this case, and four binders containing quotes, contracts, and invoices for Traditional Masonry and Construction. The documents and contracts were dated between April 2024 and March 2025, and range from $300 to $205,000. The approximate value of the contracts contained within the binders totaled $1.9 million The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Taylor A. Dean and Sandra R. Hebert.