Mold fraud case in Connecticut

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Probation given in Easton school mold fraud

By P. Mayko

STAFF WRITER

Updated: 08/01/2009 04:56:14 PM EDT

NEW HAVEN --The man who allegedly defrauded Easton and several

other state school systems on mold-treatment work will spend the first

six months of his five years probation confined to his home.

Senior U.S. District Judge Ellen Bree Burns imposed the

sentence Friday on Schongar, 61, of Clifton Park, N.Y. The judge

also ordered Schongar to perform 100 hours of community service.

Schongar pleaded guilty Jan. 30, 2009 to mail fraud.

Easton hired Schongar in 2000 and again in 2003 to remove mold from

Staples School. While the work was being done, several teachers

complained of respiratory problems, upset stomachs and skin rashes.

A police investigation began and the town spent tens of thousands of

dollars not only on the mold work but also replacing tainted ceiling

tiles.

Eventually the school was closed and replaced by a new elementary

school. A portion of the old Staples school was converted into a Senior

Citizens center.

A federal grand jury indicted Schongar in 2006 on three counts of

mail fraud and two counts of wire fraud involving allegations that he

deceived and defraud school systems in Easton, Bristol and Manchester

for mold remediation work. He elected to go to trial which began on

Sept. 14, 2007.

The trial ended the same day after Leonard F. Borges, a U.S.

Environmental Protection agency agent who investigated Schongar, began

testifying.

During the luncheon recess, Schongar suffered a heart attack and was taken out

of the courthouse on a stretcher.

Burns was forced to order a mistrial because of his hospitalization.

In contracting with the school districts Schongar claimed he was

applying a product called Microb Shield, which he told them was

registered with the Environmental Protection Agency and that he had an

arrangement with the company. No such product was registered with the

EPA. Instead it was chemical concoction created by Schongar in his

garage.

There is a product called Microbe Shield, which is registered with

the EPA, and owed by AEGIS Environmental in Midland, Mich. But the

company claimed he had no arrangement with them.

Authorities searched his home on Jan. 14, 2003 and seized documents

attesting to his qualifications. Some were believed to be counterfeit.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kang and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney

Lauterback prosecuted the case.

http://www.connpost.com/ci_12973945