How an Irish building contractor conned US homeowners out of €1.3 million
This episode was originally published in April 2026.
John O’Brien’s scam was simple. Arriving in the US on a tourist visa in 2021, he set himself up as a building contractor in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. By the time the authorities caught up with the 28 year-old, he had conned more than 100 victims out of an estimated $2.5 million.
Many of the homeowners who handed him their life savings for promised building work were charmed by his Irish accent and friendly demeanour.
Sentencing him to four years and eight months in prison, the judge talked about “the extent and breadth of the harm”…
The skinny
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