Contractor Brothers Convinced Elderly Clients Their Homes Needed Urgent Repairs. Then They Drained Their Bank Accounts, Prosecutors Say.

A pair of Irish nationals have been charged in the U.S. for allegedly scamming elderly homeowners by posing as contractors and convincing them they needed major repairs, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Washington announced.

Brothers Patrick McDonagh and Matthew McDonagh were arrested by U.S. Customs and Border Protection in June, and have since been transferred to the Federal Detention Center at SeaTac, officials said. They have been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with their alleged theft of more than $400,000 from a homeowner in Shoreline, Wash., north of Seattle.

According to the criminal complaint, the McDonaghs were part of a group that traveled the country allegedly scamming homeowners by claiming their homes need urgent repair. They particularly targeted elderly homeowners, including one older homeowner in Shoreline who lost around $435,000 in the scheme.

“This type of fraud on our elderly neighbors is heartbreaking,” U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman said in a statement. “To pose as someone trying to help them, while all the while the goal is to steal as much as they can from the victim’s hard-earned retirement funds. It is a special kind of cruelty to engage in such conduct.”

The brothers approached the Shoreline victim in January of this year, claiming they were working in the neighborhood when they noticed a hole in the victim's roof. They offered to remove moss from the roof and repair the hole.

Over the course of a few days, the brothers allegedly "pressured" the victim to write a series of checks in the amount of $15,000, $20,000, and $26,000 for their services. They then claimed the homeowner's foundation was cracked, and needed to be repaired with a "titanium tie rod system."

But prosecutors say there was no hole in the roof, and the foundation wasn't cracked. The McDonaghs allegedly dug trenches around the house and poured some concrete to "make it appear work was done," and pressured the homeowner to write more checks each day. They allegedly also asked for $20,000 to cover "taxes."

The brothers finally allegedly demanded the victim wire $200,000 to a third party for building supplies "far in excess of any work they claimed to have done."

In total, the homeowner paid the brothers $435,000.

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An investigation by the FBI further connected the brothers to complaints of contractor fraud in Washington County, Oregon, and Spokane, Washington, totaling around $50,000. According to those complaints, the brothers used fake photos of roof holes or alleged foundation problems.

“Sadly, seniors are often an attractive target for fraudsters attempting to steal a lifetime of savings, and scammers are skilled at deceiving people," said Richard A. Collodi, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Seattle field office. “We encourage consumers to stay vigilant and avoid making quick decisions before doing research or getting to know someone. If you think you or someone you know could be a fraud victim, call your financial institution immediately and report suspected fraud to the FBI at tips.fbi.gov.”

TMX contributed to this report.