$761K Fraud Judgment Upheld Against Toms River Council Vice President

A state court has upheld a $761,527 judgment against Toms River Council Vice President John Sevastakis in a 2013 case where a Monmouth County judge ruled he defrauded a homeowner on a home renovation project, forged the man’s signature on a building application and lied to township building officials about the project.

State Appellate Court Judges Carmen Messano and Mitchel E. Ostrer, in rejecting the appeal by Sevastakis, ruled that Sevastakis made intentional misrepresentations on plans drawn up an addition to the home of Frank and Josephin Coluccio, and that he was “less than candid” during the trial.

Messages and emails to Sevastakis and his attorney, Harry Jay Levin, were not immediately returned.

The Coluccios sued Sevastakis claiming his construction company, Sevas Builders, performed faulty work that resulted in the addition having to be torn down and rebuilt from scratch.

The suit also alleges Sevastakis -- who also drew up plans for the addition -- lied on documents submitted to the township on the addition, including the labeling of a school room as a great room and falsely filed permits and plans indicating Frank Coluccio was the general contractor -- which the Monmouth County judge upheld during the trial.

If Sevastakis had admitted to being the general contractor, inspections would have been done by another town’s construction official to avoid a conflict.

But the labeling of the school room as a great room was a bigger issue, the appellate judges noted, because labeling it as a school room would have results in the permit application being rejected and the Coluccios having to go before township planners for a variance. It also would have subjected the construction to far more stringent inspections and regulations, the judges noted.

Messano and Ostrer upheld the original judge’s findings that Sevastakis committed fraud on both counts, saying Sevastakis had ”no credible explanation” for labeling the school room as a great room.

The judges also rejected Sevastakis’s counterclaim that because Jacqueline Coluccio was operating the school room without a permit, the Coluccios’ claim against his company should be rejected.

The seat held by Sevastakis, who has served on the Toms River Council since 2003, is up for election this year but he is not seeking re-election.

(Editor’s note: This article originally incorrectly stated the amount of the judgment as $782,527 due to a math error. The article now reflects the correct amount of the judgment.)