Attorney General Martha Coakley Obtains Contempt Order Against MetroWest Man For Offering Home Improvement Contracting Services in Violation of Injunction

BOSTON - Attorney General Martha Coakley has obtained an order of contempt against Mauricio B. Meyer of Marlborough, and his company Tyrex Construction & Remodeling Inc., for providing residential contracting services and soliciting payment from homeowners in violation of a preliminary injunction. Under the terms of the contempt order, granted on February 10, 2011 by Superior Court Judge Merita Hopkins, Meyer must pay $14,200 in victim restitution and $12,000 in penalties and costs. He remains prohibited from providing residential contracting services, soliciting or collecting payment from consumers for providing residential contracting services, and falsely representing that he is a registered or licensed contractor.

AG Coakley had obtained a preliminary injunction against Meyer in March 2010, after demonstrating that Meyer had provided residential contracting services without a registration or license, and had created false documents and adopted the identity of a similarly named contractor who is the owner of a registered business. Recently, the Attorney General learned that Meyer violated the injunction by accepting $14,200 from a Framingham woman for home contracting services, failing to perform those services, and by performing contracting services for another homeowner in Wellesley.

"Judge Hopkins noted this defendant's disregard of the law from the bench upon issuing the contempt order," AG Coakley said. "It is appropriate that Meyer has been ordered to pay restitution and penalties, and if he violates the injunction again he will go to jail."

According to the original complaint filed by AG Coakley last March, Meyer used the Internet to find the registration and license numbers of a contractor who had a name similar to his own, and then created fraudulent home improvement contractor and construction supervisor license cards. The complaint further alleged that Meyer performed unsafe construction work that also violated building code regulations. Meyer could be ordered to pay additional restitution and penalties based on the charges brought in that complaint, which is still pending.

This matter is being handled by Assistant Attorney General Geraldine Aine of Attorney General Coakley's Consumer Protection Division, with assistance from Investigator Monique Cascarano.

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