Accused Unlicensed Contractor That Struck Seaford Faces New Charges

Story by Steven Nicastro 

A man who was arrested in late May after allegedly bilking two twin elderly Seaford men out of $200,000 is in trouble with the law again.

Robert Cohan, 26, of East Rockaway was charged this month with stealing nearly $200,000 from multiple clients in the Five Towns area who hired the unlicensed contractor to repair their driveways, according to Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice. He is charged with second-degree grand larceny and operating a home improvement business without a license. He faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

When Cohan was arrested by police on May 31, detectives said he solicited two men in November 2012 to do repair work on the driveway of their Day Street home in Seaford. The twins handed over $14,000 to begin the work.

A month later, the victims informed Cohan they wanted to cancel the work and get their money back because it was getting too cold. Cohan allegedly led the victims to believe in order to receive a refund that they would have to incur processing, transaction, and restocking fees. The victims paid Cohan in excess of $200,000, police reported.

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Rice said the latest charges Cohan faces also stem from July 2012 when the East Rockaway man approached a 73-year-old woman living in Woodmere, informed her that he owned a driveway company, and offered to repair her damaged driveway for $78,600. He said he would need the cash up front, but that he would be able to get the victim a rebate from New York State for $88,600, netting her a brand new driveway and a $10,000 profit, according to Rice.

The victim agreed and also agreed to pay Cohan $1,500 to paint her deck and repair cracks in her home’s foundation. Cohan promised to pay her the rebate funds by September 7, 2012. There was no written contract, only a handwritten receipt from Cohan that the victim would receive the rebate. Between July and September 2012, the victim gave Cohan 43 checks totaling $67,490 and $10,400 in cash, Rice said.

Cohan did paint the victim’s deck and repair some of the cracks in the home’s foundation, but no work was ever performed on the driveway. When the victim complained that no work had been done and that she had not received the promised rebate, Cohan made repeated excuses as to why he had not been able to pay her the money, according to the DA’s office.

The victim eventually enlisted the assistance of her son, an attorney, to get the money from Cohan. Throughout January and February 2013, Cohan repeatedly promised to repay the money on numerous occasions, yet failed to do so every time. The victim filed a complaint with the DA’s Office shortly thereafter.