Saratoga Springs man sentenced in $1M construction fraud scheme
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- A Saratoga Springs man will spend the next few years in prison for a construction fraud scheme that cost victims more than $1 million.
Shawn VanVeghten, 39, pleaded guilty in December 2020 to money laundering and defrauding charges. An investigation found he laundered over $1 million through two construction companies he owned and operated between 2016 and 2020 in order to finance his own expenses.
He also misused nearly $200,000 from a trust established for the benefit of a family member with disabilities.
The New York Attorney General's Office found that his multi-year scheme left many homebuyers without the ability to get into their homes when promised, if at all.
He was sentenced to 2 1/3 to 7 years in state prison for Money Laundering in the Second Degree and Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree.