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Des Plaines man charged with swindling Palatine senior

A Des Plaines man with previous convictions for fraud and burglary has been charged with swindling a 79-year-old Palatine man out of hundreds of dollars for unnecessary chimney repairs, prosecutors said.

A Cook County judge set bail at $50,000 this week for Tony Miller, 30. He faces charges of home repair fraud, the same charge for which he was convicted in 2003, prosecutors said.

Miller, of the 1100 block of River Road, was also convicted of burglary in 2002, said Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney Katherine Levine.

Levine said Miller misrepresented the damage to the homeowner’s chimney in January and charged him $500 for superficial work which a licensed contractor later determined was unnecessary as well as “substandard and provided no structural improvements to the home.”

Miller next appears in court on May 10.

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