Updated July 16, 2004, 10:38 a.m. ET

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — A New York environmental contractor was arrested Thursday on charges he defrauded Connecticut schools in a mold removal scam that prosecutors believe extended to a number of other states.

Ronald Schongar, 58, and his New York company sold chemicals to schools claiming they would rid the buildings of mold. But officials in the southwestern Connecticut town of Easton began raising concerns last year about what chemicals were in fact used.

The Environmental Protection Agency has been investigating, and the probe has expanded into several states and other Connecticut districts. Prosecutors say he is under investigation in New Jersey, New York, South Carolina and Virginia.

Environmental officials have been working to determine what Schongar sprayed in the schools and whether it posed any health hazards.

Schongar, who appeared in federal court Thursday, said he did nothing wrong and was meeting with federal investigators to clear up some misunderstandings.

Easton officials hired Schongar's Clifton Park, N.Y., firm to spray an elementary school with a chemical called Microbe Shield.

Easton Police Chief John F. Solomon said students at the school experienced breathing problems, nausea and rashes following the spraying.

"Could it have been from the spraying? Could it have been from our school? We still don't know," Solomon said.
Microbe Shield is produced and distributed only by AEGIS Environmental. AEGIS officials said Schongar was not a client and had not purchased the chemical from them.

"This guy apparently represented to the school system that what he was using was our material and it wasn't," AEGIS President Hal Locker said.

EPA investigators in January raided Schongar's home, seizing false documents, including diplomas and resumes, according to court documents.

Schongar was released on $50,000 bond. He is due back in court Aug. 4.
 

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