NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) -- New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against a Westchester heating oil company and its principals for allegedly defrauding more than 70 consumers.
Nu Way Fuel and Service Corp., Nu Way Services of New York Inc., David DaSilva Jr., the company's owner, and David DaSilva Sr. allegedly engaged in persistent deceptive, fraudulent and illegal conduct related to the operation of the unlicensed home heating oil business.
Nu Way allegedly took pre-payments for heating oil and oil-burner service but only delivered a small fraction of the oil customers paid for in advance. Nu Way also allegedly completed only a portion of the service work it was contracted to perform.
"My office will aggressively pursue unscrupulous businesses that fail to provide products and services that consumers have paid for," Schneiderman said. "Not only is the costly home-heating season rapidly approaching, this lawsuit sends a message to contractors and suppliers around New York state that broken promises can result in law enforcement action.
"We are seeking to get them their money back and punish the lawbreakers."
Schneiderman's office received 20 consumer complaints about Nu Way and the Westchester County Department of Consumer Protection received more than 50 complaints.
The attorney general's lawsuit seeks more than $80,000 in restitution, an order enjoining Nu Way and the DaSilvas from engaging in future violations of consumer protection law, an order requiring Nu Way to provide a full accounting of all monies received from consumers, all contracts and a full customer list and an order barring Nu Way and the DaSilvas from operating a home heating oil business in New York unless they obtain all necessary permits and licenses.