North Kingstown contractor sentenced to 30 months for insurance fraud

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — Attorney General Peter Neronha said that a North Kingstown contractor has been sentenced to jail time and to pay a fine for fraudulently cashing insurance checks.

Francis Martin pled no contest to five counts of forgery on June 6. He was alleged to have forged signatures on insurance checks for construction work that was never completed and fraudulently collecting $72,490.04 from two homeowners in Narragansett and Exeter.

Neronha said Martin was accused by two separate homeowners of agreeing to fix water damage in their homes.

He was then alleged to have forged bank endorsements on homeowner’s insurance checks and then abandoning work after receiving payment.

Both incidents occurred in 2014.

Martin was sentenced to 10 years, with 30 months to be served at the Adult Correctional Institutions, a seven-and-a-half-year suspended sentence, and 10 years of probation. He was also ordered to pay $65,300.24 in restitution.

Neronha said that Martin has also been charged with several misdemeanor counts of failing to comply with final orders of the Contractor’s Registration and Licensing Board for the same conduct. These cases are still pending.