Couple speaks out after contractor who scammed them gets 6-month sentence
Clifford Whitaker was sentenced to half a year in jail for the scam.
Oct 3, 2025, 5:12 PM
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A 71-year-old woman and her 81-year-old husband are sharing their disappointment after the man who scammed them out of $20,000 received just six months in jail.
Clifford Whitaker, president of New Dawn Construction, pleaded guilty in court after targeting the Franklin Square couple at their home in March. He claimed their property had sustained damage and presented a fake insurance claim approval.
"He needs to be in prison," the victim said. "Because if he is loose, he is going to scam other people."
Whitaker was sentenced to half a year in jail for the scam, despite evidence that he repeatedly returned to the couple's home, damaged their chimney, and cut a hole in their roof all part of an alleged $129,000 "repair" job.
"They are looking for the most vulnerable and targeting them," said Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly.
Donnelly added a warning: "If you didn't call a contractor, and they come to your home, don't hire them! And tell them to go away."
The woman said the harassment didn’t stop with the initial scam. Whitaker and his associates called her house 35 times in a single day, pressuring them for more money.
"The whole thing just steamrolled," she said. "They kept calling and saying, ‘Where is the money going to come from? Borrow it from friends and relatives.’”
The couple eventually realized they’d been scammed but their savings, meant for a new car, were already gone.
The husband, recovering from heart surgery, couldn ’t do the repairs himself. A member of their church ultimately stepped up to fix the damage.
"There are still good people in the world," the woman said. "You just don’t know who to trust anymore."
