Moon Contractor Jailed for Fleecing Elderly Homeowners

A Moon contractor today was sentenced to up to 21 years in prison after pleading guilty to charges that he persuaded senior citizens to give him money for home-improvement work that was never completed.

Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Anthony Mariani sentenced William F. Livorio, 69, to spend six years and eight months to 20 years in prison and to pay $645,000 in restitution.

Livorio pleaded guilty in December to theft charges filed after an investigation by detectives in the county District Attorney's office.

Investigators said Livorio, while representing a Gibsonia-based company headed by his wife, Karen, persuaded older homeowners to refinance their homes through a broker arranged by that company, Revitalization & Funding Inc. 

 The money obtained through the refinancing transactions was supposed to be used to remodel the homeowners' houses but was not, according to court records.

Livorio was convicted of defrauding 26 local homeowners, telling them that his business would use subcontractors to renovate their homes if the homeowners agreed to refinance their houses through purportedly low-interest loans.

As a part of the "package deal," homeowners agreed that after refinancing was secured, Revitalization & Funding would be the sole contractor used on the renovations. 

Livorio would sometimes receive 100 percent down payments on the contract amounts and then perform little or no work on the renovations, according to an affidavit. 

He advertised his services through fliers mailed to low-income neighborhoods. Homeowners who attempted to contact Livorio to inquire about the renovations were often ignored or misled to believe that construction would soon begin, according to investigators.

Investigators also said the state Attorney General's office received numerous complaints about the company and Livorio. In 2000, the Attorney General's office also sued Livorio and Amfed Homecare Corp, which he headed at that time, alleging that the company failed to provide other services to its senior-citizen clients.

That lawsuit, filed in Commonwealth Court, resulted in a $400,000 judgment against Livorio and an order banning him from advertising or selling goods or services to anyone age 60 or older in Pennsylvania, according to the affidavit.

In the affidavit, investigators also note that Revitalization & Funding Inc. lists Livorio's wife as its president on documents and its bank account. The state in 2008 also sought a court injunction to stop the couple from Revitalization & Funding Inc. and the couple from doing business and to freeze their assets, according to investigators.