Holbrook Man Charged Under Hate Crime Statute

Two Long Island brothers who are not licensed to operate a chimney contracting business in New York City have been charged under New York State’s Hate Crime Law with stealing more than $30,000 from three elderly Queens homeowners for chimney and roof work that was never done, according to Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown.

Bruce Wimmer, 29, of Half Circle Drive in Holbrook and his brother Michael Cristiano, 32, of Hewlett Avenue in Patchogue allegedly operated either under Reliable Chimney, Inc., a business incorporated by Wimmer and located on Coates Avenue in Holbrook, or under a false name, American Chimney, the district attorney’s office said.

They are awaiting arraignment in Queens Criminal Court on a criminal complaint charging them with the crimes of third-degree grand larceny as a hate crime, third-degree grand larceny, third-degree criminal possession of stolen property, first-degree scheme to defraud and a violation of the City’s Administrative Code for conducting or operating a home improvement business without a license. If convicted, they each face up to 15 years in prison, Brown’s office said.

“This alleged crime is particularly egregious as the defendants are accused of targeting elderly homeowners,” said Brown. “It is charged that once they managed to get their foot in the door, they used high pressure sales tactics to steal substantial amounts of additional monies from their victims by telling them that more and more work needed to be done and that if they didn’t pay, a lien would be placed on their properties and they would be forced to move.”

The district attorney’s office began its investigation in January 2011 after receiving a referral from the New York City Department of Aging regarding a homeowner’s complaint about the defendants, and a second complaint directly from the family of a homeowner about chimney work that was never done, Brown’s office said in a statement.

The defendants would allegedly cold call homeowners and say that they were in the neighborhood and would stop by within the next couple of days to inspect their chimneys, it said in a statement.

According to a release from the district attorney, in some cases an independent chimney company examined the boilers and chimneys of the homeowners and discovered that while some work may have been performed, the work was minimal or nonexistent and the amount of money paid by the homeowners far exceeded the value of any work that may have been performed.

If you know anyone who may have been victimized by the defendants, call the Queens District Attorney’s Economic Crimes Bureau at 718-286-6673 to file a complaint.