The former CEO of a remodeling company who is accused of stealing $1.9 million from an elderly relative in Cary did not get a public defender during his Thursday court appearance in McHenry County, where prosecutors also asked to freeze its assets.
Douglas R. Bonkoski, 54, of Barrington, is charged with two Class X felonies of aggravated identity theft against a person over the age of 60, as well as theft of more than $1 million, McHenry County court records show. He is also charged with financial exploitation of a person over 60 and forgery, according to court documents.
A Class X felony conviction carries up to 30 years in prison.
According to the criminal complaint against him, Bonkoski “wrote numerous checks to himself as well as to his business, America’s Bath” since 2019, which he “illegally signed” in the name of his 80-year-old relative and used the money “for personal gain.” Bonkoski had the relative’s power of attorney for the four-year period authorities say he took the money.
He appeared in prison-issued orange clothing in Judge Tiffany Davis’ courtroom Thursday, where Assistant State’s Attorney Justin Neubauer said the state is filing a motion to freeze Bonkoski’s assets.
According to his LinkedIn account and other websites, Boncosky is the founder and CEO of America’s Bath, a remodeling company based in Lake Barrington. Incorporation records filed with the Illinois Secretary of State’s office list him as the company’s manager. A person reached by phone at America’s Bath’s number said it was recently sold and referred the call to a marketing representative who could not immediately be reached.
Boncosky’s LinkedIn page also lists him as a 1988 graduate of Crystal Lake South High School who received a business degree from Western Illinois University and in 2010 ran a company called Stamilton Construction before founding America’s Bath.
In court Thursday, the judge told Bonkoski that his request for a public defender had been denied and asked him if he had an attorney, which he said he was working on hiring one.
But after hearing the state was trying to freeze his assets, Bonkoski asked what that meant and asked, “How can I pay for a lawyer if my assets are frozen?”
In an affidavit seeking a public defender, Bonkoski said he has been unemployed for three weeks, has no income, owns no property and has a checking account with a $26,000 balance.
He also wrote that he owns a $50,000 2024 Volkswagen, on which he makes monthly payments of $509, as well as about $1,000 in tools “and some household items” and $10,000 in “other assets.”
Records also show he has $50,000 in credit card debt and more than $500,000 in debt to “business account creditors.”
The judge set another court date for Nov. 22 to consider the state’s motion and the status of Boncosky’s legal representation.
Davis also wrote in an order filed Thursday that Bonkoski continues to be held in the county jail under the SAFE-T Act “to avoid the specific, actual and present threat to any person[s] or the community … or to prevent the accused’s willful escape from prosecution.’
The $1.9 million is believed to have been stolen from a member of Bonkoski’s family through wire transfers and fraudulent checks on which he is accused of forging her name. court records show.
Boncosky was granted power of attorney over the relative in 2018, the Cary Police Department said in a news release.
He was arrested Monday by Cary police and taken to court Tuesday for a pretrial detention hearing, where he was denied release pending trial because he “expressed an intent to move to Florida,” court records said.
Court documents note that Boncosky “received significant assets from the alleged events” and changed to a Florida phone number.