McKees Rocks Man Arrested For Home Improvement Fraud, Related Charges
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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- A McKees Rocks man has been arrested on charges related to home improvement fraud and insurance fraud.
Allegheny County Police say 45-year-old Jeffrey McGurk, of McKees Rocks, has been charged with 40 crimes, including home improvement fraud, theft by deception, receiving stolen property, insurance fraud and conspiracy.
McGurk is a convicted felon from Philadelphia.
According to police, McGurk came to Pittsburgh in late 2016 and started a restoration company. He allegedly has a history of arriving at the scene of a structure fire shortly after it was reported over the emergency radio, sometimes arriving on the scene while fire trucks were still there.
Police say McGurk would promise homeowners that he would handle fire, smoke and water damage in a timely fashion and that they could get money back from the insurance company claim.
McGurk is accused of performing shoddy work, not completing the work he had promised, overcharging homeowners and their insurance companies for his services and billing insurance companies for services that were never performed.
He also allegedly told homeowners to work with Tri-State Public Adjusters in Philadelphia to prevent insurance companies from dealing directly with the homeowner. Tri-State would tell the client to turn over insurance proceeds to McGurk and take a 10 percent fee from all insurance proceeds paid to the homeowner.
Arrest warrants have been issued for two Tri-State Public Adjusters employees -- Thomas Bojanowski and Edward Sidney Rosenthal.
Police say many of McGurk's victims are elderly, and they believe there may be additional victims.
Anyone who had similar contact with McGurk, Emergency Services Restoration or Tri-State Public Adjusters is asked to contact the Allegheny County Police via its Tipline at 1-833-ALL-TIPS (1-833-255-8477).
McGurk has been housed in the Allegheny County Jail with bail set at $75,000.
