Keith Maydak
Greensburg officials want the courts to order a convicted swindler to clean up his dilapidated property.
Keith Maydak, 41, of 613 Cross St., East McKeesport, who was sentenced in 1994 by a federal judge to serve eight years in prison for swindling AT&T out of more than $550,000, owns the rundown house at 24 Westminster Ave., according to city records.
City officials deemed the property unfit for human habitation and a safety hazard.
A violation notice was sent to Maydak on Aug. 10, 2010, but he has not taken any steps to resolve the issue, city solicitor Bernard McArdle wrote in the complaint filed in Westmoreland County court.
Greensburg officials want the court to force Maydak to demolish the house within 60 days or make improvements.
A request was made under the state's Right to Know Law for city records relating to the property. Attempts to speak with Maydak were unsuccessful.
Records indicate Maydak acquired the property, which has a listed assessment of $500, via a county tax sale in 2006.
Neighbors said they did not believe anyone is living in the house.
The structure, which has peeling yellow paint, unanchored handrails and a crumbling porch, is nestled in a congested area of the city amid better-kept houses.
In 1994, a federal jury convicted Maydak of money laundering, mail fraud, wire fraud and access device fraud for defrauding AT&T by setting up a 900 telephone number under fictitious company names. About $1.6 million was generated from thousands of calls placed to the line between May and November of 1991, according to reports. The fictitious companies received money for each of the calls via commissions paid by AT&T.
Maydak, described in court papers as an accomplished computer hacker, has filed numerous lawsuits in federal court over the years.
He once sued the federal government to get soy milk served to him while in prison. In 1997, again while in prison, he sued Bartolacci Private Stock Olive Oil, saying its 10-ounce bottle didn't contain 128 tablespoon servings, as the label advertised, according to published reports.
