An East Rockaway man has been arrested for allegedly stealing nearly $200,000 from elderly homeowners who hired the unlicensed contractor to repair their driveways last summer through earlier this year.
Robert Cohan was charged Tuesday with grand larceny and operating a home improvement business without a license. Nassau County police had charged him last month with grand larceny and scheme to defraud.
Nassau County prosecutors said that in the latest case, Cohan, 26, told a 73-year-old Woodmere woman that he could repair her driveway for $78,600, for which she paid him in cash and checks last July through September.
When the victim later complained that the suspect didn’t complete the work and failed to deliver an $88,600 New York State rebate from the job that he promised, she asked for help from her son, an attorney, before calling authorities.
Authorities said that in the prior case, he similarly scammed two elderly brothers into giving him $118,000 for driveway repairs he never performed.
Cohan, whose bail was previously set at $5,000, will be arraigned Tuesday at First District Court in Hempstead. He faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.
Investigators ask that anyone who thinks they may have been victimized by Cohan or his company, All About Driveways, should contact the Nassau County District Attorney’s Complaints Bureau at 516-571-3505.
