Homeowners question state agency after they allege fraud scheme cost them thousands

Дата публикации: 09-09-2026 17:00:00

Nine homeowners in Connecticut and Massachusetts have identified a contractor named John Mongan, whom they believe defrauded them through a bait-and-switch masonry scheme.

Watch previous coverage:











Charmed by a Contractor

Jun 22



Charmed by a Contractor: Our investigation and the warning from Homeland Security






The homeowners said Mongan offered an initial price, then, after his workers demolished their chimneys or front steps, or left gaping holes around their foundation, claimed there was a major structural issue and asked for thousands more.
Collectively, they paid Mongan $295,000 for nine construction projects. Most of the homeowners said they felt the work was not adequately completed.
Homeowners identified this man as John Mongan.
Homeowners said Mongan claimed to be the owner of JLB Masonry and Waterproofing Corp. (JLB) or Brickmaster Chimney and Masonry Corp. (Brickmaster), both of which were registered as Home Improvement contractors with Connecticut’s Department of Consumer Protection (DCP).
Five homeowners filed complaints with DCP naming one of the companies.
Despite the complaints from homeowners, DCP said no hearing was scheduled to suspend or revoke either company’s Home Improvement Contractor registration.
Mongan has also not faced any criminal charges. He declined an on-camera interview, but during phone conversations with NBC Connecticut’s Consumer Investigative Reporter Jennifer Joas, he said he does good work and denied significantly increasing customers’ prices after projects began.
Homeowners describe a similar pattern
NBC Connecticut Responds began hearing from homeowners after airing its initial “Charmed by a Contractor” investigation in June.
Homeowner Robert Mimaki speaking with Consumer Investigative Reporter Jennifer Joas.
Although the homeowners described different projects and outcomes, they reported a similar pattern. They all said work began at an agreed-upon price before Mongan claimed a more serious problem had been discovered and pressed them to pay more.
Susan Payne in Coventry said the price changed within hours of Brickmaster beginning work at her home.
“Three hours later he’s telling me that it’s an additional 30,000,” she said.
Donald Dunn in Monson, Mass., said workers at his home claimed his chimney was pulling away from the house.
“He says, ‘Yeah, the chimney is pulling away from the house, the flue, everything needs to be replaced.’ And I’m like, ‘Well, how much? This is like 25 grand,’” Dunn said.
Colleen Faria of Suffield said she received a similar warning.
“They told me that I had extensive water damage; they’d have to completely rebuild the chimney,” she said.
And Jeanne Coleman in Manchester said John’s crew demolished her front steps, then claimed they were not reinforced, and she would have to pay nearly double the price.
“They were like, ‘this is going to cost you more,’” said Coleman.
Jeanne Coleman pointing out cracks in her front steps two months after the job was completed.
The homeowners said the timing and severity of the alleged problems left them feeling like they had little choice but to agree to the new charges.
“What are we going to do? We have demolished stairs,” Coleman said.
Dunn said his chimney had already been broken apart when the additional work was proposed.
“I didn’t see any option. I wanted to get the chimney fixed. So, I begrudgingly cut him the check,” he said.
Payne said she believed she was bound by the contract she had already signed.
“I just felt paralyzed,” she said. “I just thought, well, I guess I have to do this.”
$30,000 project grows to $80,000
Robert Mimaki said he hired JLB after discovering water entering his basement through a crack in the foundation of his Longmeadow, Mass., home.
Mimaki said the company’s quick response and five-star Google reviews helped persuade him to hire it.
“A man named John came out, and he said he can fix it,” Mimaki said.
Mimaki said Mongan agreed to waterproof the foundation and install a drainage system for $30,000. Mimaki paid, but he said Mongan returned the following day and claimed workers had discovered another problem.
The Mimakis took this photo of JLB working at their home.
Mimaki said Mongan told him the house would need to be raised with hydraulic jacks and that renting the equipment would require another $50,000. He said Mongan described the payment as a refundable deposit and warned that the problem would worsen without immediate action.
“It’s fully refundable,” Mimaki recounted. “But he says it’s kind of a rush… otherwise it’s just going to get worse and worse. So, unfortunately, I believed him.”
Mimaki said the hydraulic equipment never arrived and the $50,000 was not returned. He said workers instead dug along the foundation and applied one bucket of an asphalt-type foundation coating that retailed for $68 at Home Depot.
“He charged me $80,000,” he said.
Mimaki contacted Longmeadow police, but the police report classified the matter as a civil dispute, meaning he would have to sue Mongan to resolve the issue. Mimaki’s attorney later sent Mongan a letter demanding the return of the $80,000.
“He promised a job, and he took the money,” Mimaki said.
Mimaki said Mongan has not responded to the letter.
Inspector finds no sign of structural work
Susan Payne hired Brickmaster to rebuild a chimney at her Coventry home. She said Mongan offered a price that was a couple thousand dollars below the other estimates she received.
After the project began, Payne said Mongan claimed her home needed a full support beam and charged an additional $30,000.
Payne paid a total of $50,000 in May. The Coventry building inspector told NBC Connecticut Responds the project should have cost about $11,000 and that there was no sign the proposed structural work had been performed.
Susan Payne at her home in Coventry.
Payne said the crew then began rocking a second chimney back and forth and offered to repair it for another $43,000.
“I was barely able to get $50,000 together for him,” Payne said. “Where did he think I was going to get an additional $40,000? It’s so brazen. I mean, I talk about confidence.”
Payne also said the crew failed to reconnect the chimney liner used to vent her boiler, allowing fumes to enter the house. The Coventry building inspector told NBC Connecticut Responds he saw the disconnected liner in person.
“I thought, I feel so lightheaded,” Payne said.
Falling bricks lead to police investigation
Dunn said Mongan told him his chimney was pulling away from the house and that the flue needed to be replaced. He said he paid Mongan a $10,000 deposit to start the work.
But Dunn says he stopped the project after bricks began falling and he noticed damage to his siding and gutter. He contacted the Monson building inspector’s office, which sent an inspector to the property.
Donald Dunn took these photos while Brickmaster was working at his house.
Dunn said the inspector contacted police.
“He walked in breathing fire like he just was not taking anyone’s crap,” he said.
Dunn said Mongan had already left for the day when a police K-9 unit, a detective, and a tow truck arrived. Monson police subsequently began investigating Mongan and Brickmaster.
Monson police said their investigation is ongoing.
According to Dunn, four independent masons, including those who eventually repaired the chimney, concluded the chimney was never pulling away from the house. NBC Connecticut Responds spoke to one of those masons who confirmed this.
During one of his phone conversations with NBC Connecticut Responds, Mongan said he would return Dunn’s money. As of the publishing of this article, Dunn said he had not received a refund.
$10,000 in a mailbox
Colleen Faria said she was told by Mongan that the chimney at her Suffield home had extensive water damage and needed to be completely rebuilt. She said portions of the project remained incomplete.
“It’s obviously poorly done,” she said. “They didn’t complete the flashing. They didn’t repoint, they didn’t replace the bricks, they only replaced the top.”
Faria said she was so upset by the quality of work that she posted a public complaint along with Mongan’s picture on Facebook. She said that seemed to get his attention.
Faria said Mongan later sent her a cellphone video showing $10,000 in cash being placed in her mailbox. She said the money was returned after a phone call where she agreed to remove his picture and the complaint from Facebook.
Colleen Faria said Mongan sent her a video of cash being placed in her mailbox.
None of the other homeowners interviewed said they had been reimbursed.
Susan Payne said the money she paid to Mongan came from her retirement savings.
“That’s my retirement money,” she said.
Payne said withdrawing the money could also have future financial consequences.
“Having to get this much money will impact my taxes for next year. It will look like income to Social Security,” she said.
Questions about the company’s registration
JLB was formed as a corporation in September 2025 and registered with Connecticut’s DCP as a Home Improvement Contractor.
The business registration record listed the principal member as Alexey Crawford North.
NBC Connecticut Responds spoke to a man who identified himself as Alexey Crawford North from Wilmington, North Carolina, and said he never opened the company.
North said DCP contacted him in November 2025, verified his personal information over the phone, and told him it had been used to open a Connecticut business.
He said he sent the agency a written statement explaining that he had not opened JLB.
“I genuinely thought this was all dealt with,” he said.
North said he believes his information was taken when he applied for a job during the summer of 2025.
Alexey North speaking with NBC Connecticut Responds via a virtual interview.
According to DCP, Connecticut Home Improvement Contractor applicants must provide identifying information, including a date of birth, Social Security number, and driver’s license number.
DCP said applicants attest that their information is accurate, but the agency does not verify it before approving a registration.
The agency said a company’s registration could be suspended or revoked after a hearing if false information was used. However, DCP told NBC Connecticut no hearing was scheduled for JLB, and the registration remained active until it expired in March of 2026.
North said the agency should have acted after receiving his statement.
“They should have definitely suspended the construction company and put them under an investigation,” said North.
NBC Connecticut asked DCP for an on-camera interview about its registration process, but a spokesperson declined. The agency also said it could not comment on questions involving North because its investigation remained open.
In an earlier installment of “Charmed by a Contractor,” DCP’s Director of Investigations, Pamela Brown, discussed the responsibility placed on homeowners before hiring someone.
“Really the due diligence is on the consumer to verify who they have at their home and check the registration,” Brown said.
Homeowners said they saw JLB’s active registration status and hired Mongan in the months that followed, paying amounts ranging from $10,000 to $80,000.
Robert Mimaki said learning that the information used to obtain the registration had not been verified was troubling.
“It’s very disappointing to hear that,” he said. “They should at least require you to register something in person.”
Faria said she believed the active registration indicated she was hiring a legitimate business.
“Very upsetting. I’ve lost sleep over it,” she said. “I cried, you know, I trusted [JLB] to do work.”
Complaints in Connecticut and New Jersey
An apartment lease reviewed by NBC Connecticut Responds showed that Mongan moved to Connecticut from New Brunswick, New Jersey. Court documents there showed he operated a company called All Jersey Masonry and the business was registered as a Home Improvement Contractor with the NJ Division of Consumer Affairs. That agency said it received seven complaints involving All Jersey Masonry. Homeowners there have also identified Mongan.
Several homeowners attempted to sue Mongan, but only one succeeded by obtaining a default judgment, according to court documents.
JLB was formed in Connecticut in September 2025. DCP said it received the first of three complaints involving that company a month later.
Brickmaster was registered in Connecticut six months later in March 2026, and Mongan was listed as a principal member. DCP said it received two complaints for that company.
Eleven months after the first complaint was lodged, DCP told NBC Connecticut Responds its investigations were still active, and a spokesperson said they could not comment further.
Mongan denies allegations
In July, NBC Connecticut Responds found Mongan living in Rocky Hill, Connecticut, and working at a home in Canton.
John Mongan working at a home in Canton, CT.
Mongan declined an on-camera interview but spoke by phone while sitting in his truck near the Canton property.
He denied the homeowners’ accusations and said he had never significantly raised a customer’s price after work began. The call was disconnected, and Mongan left the property.
Mongan called back but did not answer questions about the disconnected chimney liner at Payne’s home and said he would pay Dunn in Monson back $10,000. NBC Connecticut Responds had several other brief conversations with him, but he did not answer questions about the projects in Suffield, Manchester or Longmeadow.
Later that night, neighbors at Mongan’s Rocky Hill residence said they saw his family packing and leaving.
NBC Connecticut cameras also witnessed family members packing cars.
Neighbor John Lawrence described the departure.
“Somebody left in the hurry,” Lawrence said. “You can see that somebody just left the house taking all important things, leaving the shampoos and the soaps and, you know, unwanted things on the floor.”
The landlord later said Mongan stopped paying rent there in June. Previous unrelated eviction paperwork showed that he also stopped paying rent at a different Rocky Hill address in March.
Separately, Mongan was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence in May. NBC Connecticut found he had not entered a plea, had missed two court dates, and no arrest warrant had been issued.
After NBC Connecticut Responds repeatedly contacted DCP about their investigation, some homeowners said the agency showed them a photo lineup that included Mongan. DCP would not confirm whether this happened.
DCP had previously described identification through a photo lineup as an important step toward possible enforcement action. To our knowledge, no enforcement action has been taken against Mongan.
Payne said she remained doubtful that the complaints would lead to action.
“Being so angry and feeling so frustrated… hopefully somebody will do something about this,” she said. “But I don’t feel very confident in that right now.”
How to vet a home improvement contractor
Homeowners should not rely solely on a Home Improvement Contractor certification or online reviews when hiring someone for repairs. They can seek referrals from people they know directly, including friends, neighbors, and co-workers, and speak with their municipal building inspector before signing a contract.
The complete scope and price of the project should be put in writing before work begins. When a contractor identifies an unexpected and expensive structural problem, homeowners have the right to stop the work and seek a second opinion rather than immediately agreeing to a higher price.
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