Man Previously Deported by ICE Accused of Scamming Seattle Homeowners

Homeowners in the Seattle area have been dealing with a group of scammers who have been targeting them via their homes. According to KING 5, one of these men has since been identifed, and the outlet revealed details of what went down while talking with homeowner David Diedrick. 

Diedrick recalled how he was originally approached by a man calling himself Brian. The homeowner says that Brian told him that his chimney looked like it needed some work, and offered him a low estimate for its repair. Diedrick was happy to hire Brian, but he said that happiness soon faded as the timeline and cost of the project increased.

What was originally sold as a quick job that would cost under $5,000 quickly ballooned into months of work that came along with a $22,000 price tag.

And Diedrick wasn’t the only one who says they were swindled by scammers with changing names. Another said that they were out almost $200,000 when they hired Brian, who changed his company’s name from TrueCraft Masonry to Flex Roofing and Repairs mid-project. Now, the outlet says that the man calling himself Brian has not only been identified, but that he was previously deported by ICE in July 2025.

Seattle Home Repair Scam May Be Part of a Larger Crime Ring

KING 5 says it worked with authorities in Ireland and the United Kingdom to identify the man, whose real name is Bernard “Bernie” McDonagh. According to the outlet, he was previously arrested in Boston and then deported back to Ireland on July 16, 2025.

However, it sounds like he was back in the country just a few months later, which is when Diedrick accused him of the home repair scam. And McDonagh isn’t the only Irishman accused of trying to take advantage of homeowners. The outlet says dozens of different men with Irish accents have been accused of being part of a “crime ring” across the country with a major focus in the Pacific Northwest.

Not only that, but they say that homeowners have likely lost tens of millions of dollars as a result.

Irish National Sentenced in Separate Home Repair Fraud Scheme

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Rhode Island shared a press release on April 7, 2026, explaining how a 28-year-old man living in Rhode Island had been sentenced in federal court after targeting homeowners in a similar scam.

“O’Brien preyed on unsuspecting homeowners in Rhode Island and Massachusetts by posing as a skilled tradesman and contractor—someone they could trust. Instead, this conman fleeced homeowners of upwards of $1 million while inflicting substantial damage to their homes. In one case, O’Brien, an illegal immigrant from Ireland, used his origin to build rapport with an elderly veteran in Warwick, Rhode Island over their shared Irish heritage only to extort him for tens of thousands of dollars in unnecessary home repairs,” Homeland Security Investigations New England Acting Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey Grimming said in the statement.

Of course, homeowners across the country should always be cautious when hiring anyone to work on their homes. That may mean verifying their licenses and insurance with state or local regulators, or asking for references from clients they’ve worked with in the past.