Police looking for victims in McKees Rocks man's home restoration scam

A McKees Rocks man approached vulnerable homeowners as they watched their houses go up in flames and promised elite services from his restoration company and its highly trained staff, police said.

What homeowners got, police said, was shoddy work, overcharges and insurance fraud.

Jeffrey Edward McGurk, 45, faces more than 40 charges of home improvement fraud, theft by deception, receiving stolen property, conspiracy, and insurance fraud, according to Allegheny County Detective Keith Cecotti.

Cecotti said he believes McGurk took advantage of even more victims, and police urged anyone who dealt with McGurk to tell police.

McGurk would show up at the scene of house fires – sometimes before the fire was even out – and offer the services of his home restoration company, promising to take care of all fire, smoke and water damage, police said. He'd also tell them that they could get money back from the insurance company claim.

Many of his victims were elderly.

McGurk promised homeowners the highest level of service by trained and certified technicians, Cecotti said. What most got was shoddy work by untrained laborers who often overcharged homeowners and insurance companies.

In many cases, Cecotti said, personal belongings taken from the home were never returned, often without explanation or compensation. Insurance companies received bills for work never performed.

McGurk cautioned homeowners against trusting insurance companies, recommending instead that they authorize Philadelphia-based Tri-State Public Adjusters to deal with the insurance company on their behalf, police said. McGurk worked for the company and used it as a way to keep insurance representatives from speaking directly with homeowners.

Once the Tri-State contract was signed, the only advice homeowners received was to hand over all insurance proceeds to McGurk, Cecotti said.

Warrants have been issued for two Tri-State employees: Thomas Bojanowski and Edward Sidney Rosenthal.

Police ask that anyone who had a similar experience with McGurk, Emergency Services Restoration or Tri-State Public Adjusters is asked to contact the Allegheny County Police via its Tipline at 833-ALL-TIPS (833-255-8477).

Megan Guza is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach her at 412-380-8519, mguza@tribweb.com or via Twitter @meganguzaTrib.