ELMHURST, IL — An Elmhurst man who defrauded customers of his home repair business for years has been sentenced to seven years in prison, Will County prosecutors announced Thursday.
Edmund Kavanaugh, 53, pleaded guilty to the felony charge of continuing a financial crimes enterprise.
According to prosecutors, Kavanaugh, owner of Goliath Construction, defrauded customers out of thousands of dollars by failing to complete agreed-upon home repair projects and writing checks to suppliers that he did not honor.
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He was sentenced Feb. 4 and has been ordered to pay $42,215 in restitution, prosecutors said. He was given credit for nearly 500 days already served.
“Kavanaugh is a textbook scam artist who has repeatedly defrauded victims out of their hard-earned money and engaged in various schemes so that his scams could continue,” Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow said in a news release. “It is about time that this con artist who has swindled victims throughout the Chicagoland area has received what he so richly deserves — time in prison.”
Find out what’s happening in Elmhurst with free, real-time updates from Patch.
Kavanaugh is facing charges in other jurisdictions as well.
In 2020, Patch documented how Kavanaugh collected $10,000 for home repair work at a Hinsdale couple’s house, but completed little of the project.
In 2020, Patch found many examples of a Facebook user operating under the name “Jessica Munoz” answering inquiries on suburban “Moms” Facebook pages for home repair services. The user recommended a number of businesses with the same phone number, which is Kavanaugh’s. The business names included Edward Paint Pros, Deck Pros, Tile Guys, Kitchen Guy and Arana Construction.
In interviews with Patch in 2020, Kavanaugh said the Hinsdale couple’s account of their dealings with him was full of lies, at one point calling the woman a slur typically used against women. He said he stopped doing agreed-upon work after the man emailed him that he was not allowed on their property. Kavanaugh promised to send that document to Patch, but did not.
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