US federal probe targets multi-million dollar Irish scam gang

US federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security, are now involved in an investigation spanning multiple states into an Irish criminal fraud and construction scam gang, RTÉ Prime Time has learned.

Victims have collectively paid the gang tens of millions of dollars, according to US police investigating their operation. Some individual victims are believed to have lost several hundred thousand dollars.

Police in the Pacific Northwest say they have identified around 30 people suspected of involvement in the scam, most of them Irish men who travelled to the US from Ireland.

In the city of Seattle alone, police estimate victims have lost around $15 million. They include elderly homeowners who have lost life savings and retirement funds.

The scammers, who have been covered extensively by Seattle-based 'King 5' TV's investigations team in recent months, also defrauded homeowners in the wider Washington State area and in Oregon.

Police in the city of Seattle told Prime Time they have pictures and surveillance video of 30 people linked to the gang from the Pacific Northwest region alone.

They say the majority of the suspects are Irish men who have come over from Ireland, and not second or third-generation Irish Americans.

Most of the suspects, police sources said, are in the US unlawfully on overstayed visas, with the majority of them originally coming into the country via New York.

One police source pointed out that in some parts of the United States, it is easier to obtain a driver's licence and register a vehicle than in others. As a result, they said, some of the criminals involved in the scam "are using these areas to their advantage."

The same source said that in some cases, the subjects have previously been arrested and deported back to Ireland, only to show up months later to again commit the same offence in another part of the US.

One of the victims, David Diedrick, spoke to Prime Time from Seattle. His partner was approached on the street outside their home by a man who pointed out that their chimney needed some work.

The man, who had an Irish accent, said he was working on other properties in the area and offered to fix the chimney.

"I think his initial estimate was $2,300. And I was like, 'oh, that's very reasonable,’" Mr Diedrick said.

When the Irish man - who called himself Brian - returned to do the work, he sent one of his crewmates up on the roof.

They then told Mr Diedrick that they would need to take down more than just the top three rows of bricks.

"We're going to have to take it down to the roofline. It'll be another $1,400," they told him.

Mr Diedrick went to the bank to get another $1,400 and returned to find the price had increased again.

"Then we went inside to start to redo the contract and start talking about timelines, and the number had changed from $1,400 to $14,000," he said.

Mr Diedrick said that he did not have that amount, and after much heated discussion with the builder he ended up paying him over $8,000 for an unfinished job.

"Overall, for me it was just over $8,000. It was like $8,200, which is not insignificant. Then I had to pay somebody to come to fix my chimney properly," he said.

"The scam always starts small," according to Andie Judson, an investigative journalist with King 5, who has led reporting on the gang.

"The playbook goes that they approach a homeowner, offer a low price and get them to sign a contract. And then, all of a sudden, there's all these other things that they need to fix.

"They offer this great first price, maybe $1,500, $2,500. And then once they get in there, they'll quickly rip down your chimney or whatever they're working on. We've seen it with foundations, driveways, and then suddenly the price grows and grows," Ms Judson said.

"They'll make it really scary. They'll say, ‘you know, this house might fall down’. They use that kind of scare tactics to push the homeowner into giving them more money," she added.

Ms Judson said she has spoken to scores of victims in the greater Seattle area.

"I've seen one victim lose close to $700,000, close to $1 million. That's some serious life savings for these folks, especially if they're elderly," Ms Judson said.

As well as the victims in the Pacific Northwest, US agencies told Prime Time they are aware of similar scams impacting people in Colorado, Utah and California.

Looking back on the ordeal, Mr Diedrick said: "I have some shame. I feel like I know better. I shouldn't have fallen for this… it's embarrassing. I should know better."

"It just makes me really angry that they're out there with the intent of scamming people."

Police say some of the money is being laundered in businesses in New York, while some money is being transferred into cryptocurrencies overseas.

Investigators have also traced some money to Ireland.

Watch more from reporter Conor McMorrow and producer Genevieve Brennan on the Irish criminals' US roofing scam on the Thursday, September 17 edition of Prime Time.