Grand Jury Indicts Hazlet Contractor On Theft Charge

A Hazlet home improvement contractor has been indicted on a theft charge after authorities say he was paid $120,000, but failed to start work for a homeowner whose house was destroyed by Superstorm Sandy.

The grand jury on Monday handed up the indictment against Edward Capriani, 43, of Line Road in Hazlet.

Capriani was arrested in December after an investigation by the Monmouth County Superstorm Sandy Fraud Task Force.

Investigators determined he never began work on a new home in Union Beach, even though he had been paid $120,000, according to a news release from acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni.

According to the news release:

Capriani, was doing business under the name “Edward Wohanka,” in November 2013 when he entered into a contract with a Union Beach homeowner to build a new house, at a total cost of $225,000.

In December 2013, the victim gave a $30,000 check to Capriani.

In March 2014, Capriani cashed a second, $15,000 check from the victim.

By June, Capriani’s registration as a New Jersey State Home Improvement Contractor Registration was suspended.

But he asked the victim for another $75,000, and the victim gave him three checks: one for $30,000, one for $20,000 and another for $25,000.

He cashed all of the victims’ checks at a check cashing facility in Hazlet.

Capriani has not broken ground on the project and never returned any of the money.

Capriani is free on $150,000 bail.

The case is being handled by Monmouth County Assistant Prosecutor Andrew S. Fried, who is a member of the agency’s Financial Crimes and Public Corruption Bureau, and the Director of the Superstorm Sandy Fraud Task Force.