Acton contractor banned from conducting business after scam
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Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey
Richard Capachione, an Acton home improvement contractor has been banned from owning or managing a construction company and will pay $150,000 in restitution according to a Tuesday announcement from Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey.
The AG’s Office alleges that Capachione violated state consumer protection laws, and the Home Improvement Contractor Act.
According to the allegations, Capachione took hundreds of thousands of dollars from clients through deposits and payments without ever completing the work he was paid for. The abandoned projects often left consumers’ properties damaged or in unsafe/unsanitary conditions.
Capachione owned three home renovation companies: New England Hardscapes, Inc., Aqua Outdoor Environments, and R and R Consulting, LLC. These three companies will be dissolved as part of the consent judgment entered in Suffolk Superior Court.
The AG’s Office began investigating Capachione in 2019 after a series of consumer complaints from homeowners who had hired Capachione. Despite Capachione and his businesses being financially unstable, he continued to solicit new business, enter into new agreements, and accept new deposits from consumers, the AG's office said.
Capachione filed for bankruptcy, but is still required to pay $150,000 in restitution. This sum will be placed into a fund for the harmed consumers which will be overseen by an AG’s Office appointed trustee.
“This settlement returns thousands of dollars to Massachusetts homeowners who were taken advantage of by this contractor’s deceptive practices,” said Healey, in a statement.
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