New Windsor Contractor Arrested And Charged With Fraud

Well law enforcement in my hometown of New Windsor has been quite active in recent weeks. It was recently announced by Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler that a New Windsor man was recently taken into custody by a multi-agency task force and charged with multiple counts of fraud.

Contractor Fraud Case Details

The announcement of this contractor fraud case was announced just yesterday, February 22, 2024. In the announcement D. A Hoovler detailed the work of the task force who investigated and subsequently arrested the suspect.

The multi-agency Orange County White Collar Crime Task Force was created nearly a year ago in March of 2023. The Task Force's objective is to focus on enhancing the investigation and prosecution of public corruption and financial crimes. Some of these crimes would include crimes involving public integrity, public corruption, embezzlement, and yes contractor fraud, as well as numerous other crimes.

The OCWCC Task Force is comprised of several different Orange County law enforcement agencies. Some of those agencies, represented by investigators, would be the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, the New York State Department of Financial Services, the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance and several other local police agencies.

These local agencies would include the Town of Newburgh Police Department, the Village of Warwick Police Department, the Village of Goshen Police Department and the Town of Woodbury Police Department.

Contractor Fraud Case Details

The OCWCC Task Force had been investigating this case of contractor fraud and while it was unclear how long the investigation has been in progress based on the press release, officials determined they had enough to make the arrest of the suspect identified as 42-year-old Gary Maldonado of New Windsor.

According to the official press release, Maldonado has been formally charged with...

Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree and Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree.

Allegedly, Maldonado had "induced" two separate victims where the victims gave him large sums of money in exchange for work that would be done on home improvement projects. The work however was not done and the victims were not refunded their money.

It is also alleged that Maldonado filed a fraudulent Certificate of Liability Insurance through the Town of Newburgh Building Department.

Where Case Currently Stands

Of the charges against they range between Class D and Class E felonies. Due to this, the crimes were "not bail eligible", meaning that Maldonado was released with an appearance ticket and has been given a ticket to reappear in court at a later date.

The penalties for each of the charges range between potential prison time, probation, and or fines. The penalties can vary based on whether or not the accused is found to be guilty or whether or not the accused possesses a prior criminal history.

The press release concluded with DA Hoovler thanking and commending all the individuals involved in the investigation. The case will be prosecuted by Chief Trial Assistant District Attorney Richard Moran.