Credit: PA Internet News Service
A contractor has been charged by state law enforcement after they allege he kept funds and did not complete work for victims of fires.
Jason Richard Urbanowski, 43, of Philadelphia, was arraigned earlier this month by District Judge Frank Peranteau on 17 charges, including receiving advance payment for services and failing to perform, theft, deceptive business practices, forgery, and bad checks. He was released on $1 million unsecured bail.
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In 2015 and 2016, Urbanowski, who owned Rapid Restoration, entered into agreements for home repairs due to a fire damage and would accept funds from insurance companies through public adjusters. The problem was that he was not completing the work or would just keep the funds, according to the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office.
Urbanowski told LevittownNow.com the problem boils down to what he considers an accounting issue. He said he is speaking with the attorney general’s office to rectify the case.
In 2016 and 2017, the attorney general’s office received complaints about Rapid Restoration. The complaints spanned the area and were looked into by a special agent assigned to the office’s Bureau of Criminal Investigations.
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In October 2015, Rapid Restoration and Urbanowski entered into an agreement with a resident of G Street in Philadelphia to perform renovations and restorations to her property following a house fire. The resident signed a contract with Rapid Restoration to provide emergency services for the house and to remove, clean, and store her personal property until the completion of the renovations. Rapid Restoration and Allstate Insurance provided a list of property that was to be removed from the house and cleaned and stored. Rapid Restoration removed all the property from the resident’s house but never returned her property or reimbursed her for the value of the property that was not returned. Allstate Insurance listed the replacement cost value of the resident’s property as $26,089.10, according to court papers.
In July 2016, Urbanowski and his company struck a deal with a resident of Langdon Street in Philadelphia. The company to provide home renovations following a fire that caused smoke damage. Urbanowski received and cashed a check for $37,855.74 from a Bristol Township-based public adjustment services firm to perform repairs and renovations to the resident’s house. Urbanowski performed only a small amount of work and then did not return and was inaccessible for calls and text messages. At the time, the resident ended up making contact with Urbanowski and he stated he would not return until he received additional money from the insurance company. The resident eventually fired Rapid Restoration and requested a refund for the work that was not performed. Rapid Restoration issued a check for $3,000, but the resident found out the bank would not cash the check due to insufficient funds in Rapid Restoration’s bank account, the attorney general’s office said.
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Rapid Restoration and Urbanowski entered an agreement in May 2016 with the residents of a fire-damaged home on Turk Road in Doylestown Township. As part of the agreement, Urbanowski removed all the clothing all other garments from the home to be cleaned. He was given a check by the Bristol Township public adjustment firm to pay for the garment cleaning. Urbanowski cashed the check for $8,670.87. A separate Bristol Township business was not paid for the garment cleaning and storage services they provided. Urbanowski was further provided a $39,326.70 check to give to provide to the residents as part of reimbursement for the destroyed contents of their home. Urbanowski signed for the couple without their knowledge and cashed the check. Urbanowski received checks from the Bristol Township firm totaling $121,546.08 to rebuild and restore the Doylestown Township home. However, the work was not fully performed and the money was not returned, the attorney general’s office said.
In court papers, the special agent writes that Urbanowski forged documents as part of his scheme to keep the money “that he was not entitled to.”
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