Crooked Contractor Hired By Beverly Sisters Now Behind Bars: 'The Damage To People's Homes Is Unbelievable'

CHICAGO (CBS) --   Justice for victims of an accused crooked contractor, now charged with scamming homeowners out of tens of thousands of dollars.

CBS 2's Vi Nguyen has more from Beverly where CBS 2 has been following the investigation since February.

A group of sisters are so happy because they have been waiting for this day for so long. They paid Ed Kavanaugh to repair their home but instead they said he took their money and left behind mess. But now more than a year later, they're finally getting justice.

Fifty-one-year-old Edmund Kavanaugh is sitting in a Joliet jail on multiple felony charges, including home repair fraud, money laundering and theft.

"We're thrilled that Will County took these months to do the deep investigative work that was necessary to get behind and put some solid charges against him ," said Clare Duggan.

Mary Duggan and her sisters will never forget the nightmare he put them through.

"We haven't been able to enter our front door of our home for over a year," Duggan sad. "I mean, he just went in dismantled the sidewalk, pulled part of the stairs off, ruined the railing."

A storm damaged their home over Memorial Day weekend of last year. They wanted Kavanaugh to repair the foundation but instead, he convinced them he was the man to take on the entire job as their contractor.

The sisters handed over $8,000 for the deposit. But he didn't do the job right, made excuses for everything and the rest is history.  They fired him in February and soon learned about his criminal record, various aliases and schemes dating back  25 years.

"The damage to people's homes, it's unbelievable," Mary Duggan said. "He goes in and tears up your whole driveway and you'll never see him again."

The Duggan sisters shared their story with CBS 2 in February and heard from more than 50 victims. They handed over what they knew to authorities and Kavenaugh was arrested at his home in Elmhurst.

"If you put all that effort into being an honest guy he could earn a good living," said Clare Duggan.

Authorities believe there could be more victims. The sisters even started a victim's hotline: 312-600-5350 and there's also an email address to send information to: Kavanaugh.victims@gmail.com.

As for Kavanaugh, he's being held on one million dollars bond.