Buckingham Township Police Department. Photo by James Short.
Arnaldo Goncalves Defreita Junior, 41, of Long Branch, cashed a check and never delivered on work, Buckingham Township Police say.
Detectives with Buckingham Township Police Department on Monday updated the public on a New Jersey man with an active warrant since 2022 on felony home improvement fraud.
Arnaldo Goncalves Defreita Junior, 41, of the 100 block of 3rd Avenue, Long Branch, NJ, was charged by police in June 2022 with felony home improvement fraud – receiving advance payment for services and fails to perform, two felony counts of theft by deception, and felony failure to make required deposit of funds, according to court records.
Authorities allege that a homeowner hired Junior to conduct home improvement work, which was scheduled to begin in April 2022, but he instead cashed the check and never performed the work.
On June 14, 2022, the homeowner to police he hired Junior, of AGFJ Flooring LLC, to do a renovation, and later paid Junior a $1,000 check on June 6, 2022, police said.
The payment, police allege, was agreed to be used for the home improvement services at the victim’s home on the 3700 block of Spangler Court. The check, per the affidavit, was cashed by Junior shortly after receiving it.
By June 14, 2022, the work was still not started, two months after the agreement. The homeowner, police said, reached out to Junior several times and received excuses, but advised he would be at the house to complete the work on June 14. Police said he never showed up.
When police contacted Junior, he said the victim wrote him a $1,000 check to complete the home renovation and that he told the victim he would at his house on June 16 at 8 a.m. to complete the work and it was a misunderstanding, per the affidavit.
On June 16, police said, Junior failed to show up to complete renovation work. Police contacted him and he said he longer wants to do the work, police said.
When asked to return the $1,000, he told police he was not going to return the money on June 16, police said. Police told Junior that if he failed to remedy the situation by issuing a refund, then he would be charged, to which, he said “OK,” per the complaint. Junior, they allege, then asked if police wanted his name and address, prior to hanging up on police.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.
