Taunton contractor who swindled retired Swansea woman out of $25,000 ordered in Fall River court to pay full restitution

A 54-year-old former contractor who swindled a retired Swansea woman out of thousands was ordered to pay full restitution to the victim in Fall River District Court.

According to Lt. Patrick Mooney, a homeowner filed a report with the Swansea PD in February 2024, that in September 2023 they had entered into an agreement with a contractor, Thomas Furtado of Taunton MA, to do renovations to their house. 

Between September and November, the homeowner gave Furtado 3 checks totally $25,000, however, the work was never started.  After numerous attempts by the homeowner to get Furtado to start the job, the homeowner came to the police station to file the report. 

After an investigation by Ptl. Andrew Pelletier, it was learned that Furtado did not have a valid Home Improvement Contractor License. Furtado was ultimately summonsed into Fall River District Court on the charges of Home Improvement Contractor Violation, Home Improvement Contractor Unlicensed, and Larceny over $1200.

The Bristol County DA’s Office stated that during several conversations with the victim, she reiterated how she needed the money back right away so that she could retire and live more comfortably.  The decision was made to allow Furtado to be placed on pretrial probation in order to rapidly dispose of the case and get a court order for full monetary restitution to the victim.  The case went from arraignment to full restitution within five months. The defendant was initially held on $15,000 cash bail.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Amelia DeMelo.

“I am very pleased that my office was able to obtain full restitution for the victim in this case.  This was a significant amount of money that she may not have gotten back.  This was in large part because the court took the case very seriously and set a high cash bail at arraignment,” District Attorney Quinn said.