close

Owners of defunct remodeling business charged with cheating customers, would-be partner

3 min read
article image -

The owners of a Fayette County home-improvement business are accused in a grand jury filing of stealing more than $140,000 from a coal miner who believed he was investing in a legitimate business.

Kristen Swaby, 36, of Staten Island, N.Y., and Gerard Maggio, 51, of Boston, also face charges stemming from allegations they took tens of thousands of dollars more from customers of their now-closed business – Prima Kitchen and Bath Remodelers, which was based in Uniontown – for work that wasn’t performed. The grand jury’s presentment also alleges the pair failed to pay other businesses for services and didn’t pay subcontractors for their work.

State police charged Maggio and Swaby, described in the presentment as girlfriend and boyfriend, with theft by deception, conspiracy to commit theft by deception and deceptive business practices on Thursday.

Maggio and Swaby didn’t return messages left at phone numbers listed in court papers as belonging to them on Friday afternoon. Court papers don’t list attorneys representing either of them.

Court records show they haven’t been arrested, but further details about their whereabouts weren’t immediately available.

The case involves 16 victims who allegedly lost a total of $226,000 to Maggio’s and Swaby’s subterfuge at different times last year.

Of that money, $142,000 came from checks that Kevin Snyder, a 32-year-old miner from Fayette County, told a state police investigator he signed over to Maggio in March and April of 2018. Snyder apparently believed he was buying a partnership in Prima, but soon became suspicious because of complaints from customers over unfinished work.

The investigator, Trooper Craig Yauch of the regional organized crime unit, wrote that he began looking into the business in April that year based on a report from local authorities.

“Snyder eventually completed an internet search on Maggio and learned that he had previously been charged with deceptive business practices and fraud in Monroe County, Pennsylvania,” according to the six-page presentment, which the Allegheny County grand jury returned in March. “Snyder also learned that Maggio had been using a fraudulent name, Gerard Gallo, while he was operating his business in Fayette County.”

Court records show more than a dozen cases involving similar charges against Maggio in Monroe and other eastern Pennsylvania counties dating to as early as 1998.

The presentment listed a total of 16 people and businesses who allegedly were cheated while doing business with Prima. Among those were the Observer-Reporter, which wasn’t paid for $350 worth of advertising last year, and the Uniontown Herald-Standard, which also is owned by the O-R’s parent company, Ogden Newspapers. The Herald-Standard is listed as being owed more than $16,000 in unpaid invoices by Prima.

The other victims are listed as being from Fayette County, except for one person from West Virginia. The charges were filed in the office of District Judge Robert Redlinger in Washington.

“Maggio was interviewed by investigators and admitted to taking the customers’ money but not performing the work,” the presentment went on.

He also purportedly admitted to using a fake name to open Prima, and told them Swaby was aware of the ruse.

“Swaby and Maggio closed the doors of their business during the course of this investigation and left the area without paying any money that they owed the victims,” the presentment said.

CUSTOMER LOGIN

If you have an account and are registered for online access, sign in with your email address and password below.

NEW CUSTOMERS/UNREGISTERED ACCOUNTS

Never been a subscriber and want to subscribe, click the Subscribe button below.

Starting at $3.75/week.

Subscribe Today