Cops: Contractor took $300,000 for work never done

A contractor was arrested on fraud and grand larceny charges Tuesday after he took more than $300,000 in payments to rebuild a Levittown home that had been destroyed due to mold but he never did the work, Nassau police said.

Patrick Ladmer, 38, of 1369 Gardiners Dr., Bay Shore, the owner of Powerhouse Renovation, failed to do renovations despite having taken the money, police said. Ladmer was hired by the Acorn Avenue homeowner to fix a leak in September 2006, but the homeowner soon learned that the house had a serious mold problem and had to be demolished and rebuilt.

The homeowner's insurance company paid renovation funds into an escrow account at a company called Aurora Loan Service. Then, "in January of 2009 the victim learned the defendant had been requesting money from Aurora and received over $300,000 for renovations never done," a police report said. Ladmer was held for arraignment Wednesday at First District Court, Hempstead.