A home improvement contractor is facing a criminal charge for accepting $25,000 from a Stoughton, Massachusetts, homeowner and then never even putting a shovel in the ground to start her backyard pool project.
On Thursday, Larry Westgate was arraigned on a count of larceny by false pretense in Stoughton District Court. He was released on personal recognizance and ordered not to perform any contracting work while his case is pending.
Outside of court, Westgate covered his face and declined to answer questions from an NBC10 crew, other than to refer to his situation as a “bunch of b*******.”
Westgate is accused of cashing the $25,000 check from Rose Khnaizir in March 2021 for the backyard swimming pool. The project never started and Khnaizir never received her money back.
During an interview last year, Khnaizir said she worked around the clock as a nurse throughout the pandemic and saved up for the project.
When nothing happened, Khnaizir said authorities viewed the situation as a “civil matter,” a common complaint we’ve heard over the course of our “To Catch a Contractor” investigative series.
“Someone has robbed me,” she told us last year. “And the legal system is not there to protect me.”
However, that changed after our NBC10 investigation about Westgate, which is referenced in the Stoughton police report prepared by Detective Robert Kuhn.
“In a later aired news reel by Channel 10 Boston, Khnaizir was interviewed with a host of other victims of Westgate’s criminal business practices,” Kuhn wrote.
After the arraignment on Thursday, Khnaizir reacted to the significant development more than three years after she wrote the big check.
“He knew what he was doing,” Khnaizir said. “It’s very difficult because I know how hard I work. The fact that I can’t enjoy the fruits of my labor is very disheartening.”
More from To Catch a Contractor
As we first reported last year, angry customers formed a private Facebook group to trade horror stories and share advice. The group eventually swelled to 80 members after we published our investigation.
Westgate filed for bankruptcy, while homeowners fumed about his new property in Fall River, decked out with a Bruins-themed mancave, or social media posts about his beach vacations.
The U.S. Trustee — the arm of the Department of Justice that polices the bankruptcy system — is expected to make a decision next month about whether or not to object to Westgate discharging his debts, according to court documents.
Earlier this year, Westgate even ran afoul of state investigators when he received a $10,000 fine for illegally transporting and selling puppies from his Fall River home.
Westgate is now the third businessman who was the focus of a “To Catch a Contractor” investigation to later face criminal charges.
That list includes a pool contractor who was indicted in Plymouth County and awaiting trial next year, along with a paving contractor who was convicted and served prison time.
“I’m grateful for your persistence and follow-up,” Khnaizir said. “It’s refreshing to see this case go through. It’s hope at the end of the tunnel.”
Ryan Kath can be reached at ryan.kath@nbcuni.com. You can follow him on Instagram or connect on Facebook.
