A man known as "Brian" was deported by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to Ireland on July 16, 2025, but he returned to the US and continued to scam homeowners in Seattle. According to a KING 5 investigation, "Brian" was actually Bernard "Bernie" McDonagh, a 42-year-old Irishman who had been arrested in Boston and deported. McDonagh would approach homeowners, including David Diedrick, and offer to do small repair jobs, but the costs would quickly escalate, with Diedrick's job ultimately costing $22,000.
Another homeowner reported losing nearly $200,000 to McDonagh, who would change the name of his company halfway through the job. McDonagh has not been charged with any crimes in the US and did not respond to KING 5's attempts to contact him. Investigators believe McDonagh is part of a larger "crime ring" of dozens of men with Irish accents who are scamming homeowners across the country, with estimated losses in the tens of millions of dollars.
Law enforcement has identified the scam as a "Traveling Conmen Fraud Group," a transnational organized crime group that typically targets homeowners with fake repair jobs. The FBI's Terrorist Screening Center recognizes this group, and there have been previous cases of individuals being sentenced for similar crimes, including a 56-month sentence for an Irish national who defrauded homeowners in Rhode Island and Massachusetts of over $1.5 million. Despite this, KING 5 reports that there have been no arrests in the Seattle-area cases, which is frustrating for victims like Diedrick.