Contractor gets 7 years in phony hailstorm damage scam

A former employee for a now-defunct Camden County construction company who intentionally damaged South Jersey homes to drum up business, then collected cash from unsuspecting customers’ insurance claims was sentenced to seven years in state prison Friday for his role in the scam. Superior Court Judge Terrence R. Cook, presiding in Mount Holly, sentenced Marcin Gradziel, 34, of Lake Worth, Fla., who lived in Norristown, Pa., at the time of the crime, to the prison term in accordance with his earlier negotiated plea to second-degree insurance fraud, acting New Jersey Attorney General John J. Hoffman said. Under the plea agreement, the state will recommend that Gradziel be sentenced to seven years in state prison. In pleading guilty, Gradziel admitted that in December 2010, acting on behalf of Precision Network Solutions, doing business as Precision Builders of Voorhees, he caused fraudulent insurance claims to be submitted to Travelers Insurance Co. for property damage to three homes in Gloucester and Camden counties purportedly caused by hailstorms. The company also had an office in Evesham, investigators said. An investigation determined that representatives from Precision Builders canvassed neighborhoods, claimed that homes had been damaged in a hailstorm, and advised homeowners that they could get new siding and roofing at no cost. Several homeowners told investigators they were unaware of any hail damage to their residences before being solicited by Precision Builders, authorities said. After homeowners filed claims with their insurance carriers, Gradziel would visit and damage the properties prior to adjusters’ inspections, according to the Attorney General’s Office.