[StBernard] Chalmette woman wanted in two-year-old contractor fraud case arrested in Houston

[Westley Annis]

Chalmette woman wanted in two-year-old contractor fraud case arrested in
Houston
By Chris Kirkham, The Times-Picayune 
January 12, 2010, 5:30PM

A 70-year-old St. Bernard Parish woman who was wanted on suspicion of
bilking a man out of $25,000 in repairs to his business after Hurricane
Katrina was arrested in Houston and brought back to the parish earlier this
week, according to the St. Bernard Sheriff's Office.

Antoinette C. Vryniotis of Chalmette has been wanted since January 2008 on a
charge of theft by fraud. Police say she was paid $45,000 to repair a St.
Bernard business but skipped town after completing only $20,000 worth of
renovations.

Vryniotis had family in the Houston area, according to a Sheriff's Office
news release, and was arrested after a task force from the Louisiana
attorney general's office recently tracked her down. Two sheriff's deputies
from St. Bernard drove to Houston to pick her up.

"The Sheriff's Office hasn't forgotten these cases and we are still
interested in bringing these criminals to justice," Chief Deputy James
Pohlmann said in a statement.

According to a police report, the business owner, Joseph Campiere, entered
into an agreement with Vryniotis in June 2007 to do $60,000 worth of repairs
to his business at 8425 W. St. Bernard Highway. He had paid her more than
$45,000 by November 2007, but she and her workers had only gutted walls and
ceramic tile on the first floor, and finished only half of the electrical
work in the contract. 

Campiere told deputies that he had been unable to track down Vryniotis in
person or over the phone. Deputies visited her warehouse, which appeared to
be totally vacant.

He later told deputies that Vryniotis might be staying with family in
Houston.