Vernon police arrested two brothers accused of home improvement fraud and stealing from the woman who hired them to do contracting work at her house.
Glastonbury police tipped Vernon police off in March about an incident of possible fraud involving an elderly resident.
Brothers Wesley, 26, and David Zaino, 27, approached a woman who turned out to be in her 60s and who lives by herself in Vernon about doing home repairs, police said.
She paid them nearly $49,485 to do repairs at her home between June 2014 and March 2015, including replacing the roof, painting, putting up curtains up, doing flooring, fixing sidewalks, installing electrical wiring and doing other upgrades around the house, police said.
The Zaino brothers are also accused of stealing jewelry from the woman while they were in her house and sold the jewelry at pawn shops in the area, police said. Wesley Zaino took about $5,700 in jewelry and David Zaino stole about $1,000 in jewelry, police said. Vernon police were able to recover some of it.
They were operating under the name Zaino Construction and did little of the work the promised to do. The work they did do was poor quality and didn't pass an inspection. Investigation revealed they were not licensed contractors and did not have the required permits necessary to work on her home.
They stripped shingles from half of the woman's roof and covered it "haphazardly" with a tarp, leading to water damage in the home, police said.
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The brothers also couldn't account for most of the money the woman paid them even though most of the promised repairs were not done.
The Hebron Resident Trooper's office took the brothers into custody on Thursday on the outstanding Vernon arrest warrants.
The case remains under investigation and police believe there are other victims.
Vernon police ask anyone who thinks he or she was a victim of the Zaino brothers to contact Det. Charles Hicking at 860-872-9126 at extension 224.
Police caution residents that they should verify contractors' credentials before they hire them. Any home improvement contractor is required to be licensed through the state's Department of Consumer Protection. You can verify licenses through the state website.
Vernon police charged both brothers with first-degree larceny, conspiracy to commit first-degree larceny, second-degree larceny, conspiracy to commit second-degree larceny, third-degree burglary and making home improvements without a license. Wesley Zaino was also charged with third-degree larceny and David Zaino was charged with fifth-degree larceny.
The brothers are scheduled to appear in Rockville Superior Court on Thursday. Wesley was issued a $100,000 cash/surety bond and David Zaino was issued a $75,000 cash/surety bond.
