Elmhurst Man Used Fake Name In Repair Scam: Cops

ELMHURST, IL — An Elmhurst man used a fake name and a fake business to get a home repair job in Niles, taking a hefty down payment and doing little actual work, police say.

Even before this latest case, Edmund Kavanaugh, 52, was already sitting in the Will County Jail on similar charges in other towns. His bond is $1 million.

Late last month, Kavanaugh was indicted on home repair fraud changes in the Niles case. Patch obtained the full police report through a public records request.

According to the report, a 33-year-old woman in Niles made a down payment of $3,200 to start the project, which included drainage work and a vinyl fence.

With the woman, Kavanaugh used Adam Wodnicki as his name and said his company was Drain Landscaping, the report said. She signed a contract with him in late April. The secretary of state's business database includes no listing for Drain Landscaping.

On June 9, the woman first reported her issue with Kavanaugh, who she still thought was Wodnicki, to Niles police. It was seen as a civil matter, not one involving the police.

But a couple of weeks later, Niles police determined that Wodnicki may be Kavanaugh, based on information from other departments.

In a photo line-up, the woman pointed to Kavanaugh as the man posing as Wodnicki, police said. She had seen him about a half dozen times — two when he came to her house to drum up business and the rest to see what work had been done.

According to the report, an unknown man hired by Kavanaugh spent about three hours digging up the woman's back yard for drainage. But with the first rainfall, her basement flooded, which was unprecedented, she told police. Kavanaugh personally did no work.

When no more work was done, the woman said Kavanaugh agreed to return $1,500 of the deposit, but he did not, police said.

The woman said she agreed to the drainage work in late April and then signed on for the vinyl fencing in early May. Under the contract, all the work totaled $6,500.

Kavanaugh was indicted on the Niles charges on Jan. 20.

In June, Patch found many examples of a Facebook user operating under the name "Jessica Munoz" answering inquiries on suburban "Moms" Facebook pages for home repair services. The user recommended a number of businesses with the same phone number, which is Kavanaugh's. The business names included Edward Paint Pros, Deck Pros, Tile Guys, Kitchen Guy and Arana Construction.

In interviews with Patch last summer, Kavanaugh said a Hinsdale couple's account of their dealings with him was full of lies, at one point calling the woman a slur typically used against females. He said he stopped doing agreed-upon work after the man emailed him that he was not allowed on their property. Kavanaugh promised to send that document to Patch, but did not.

In October, Kavanaugh was charged with multiple home repair fraud counts from across the Chicago area.