The former CEO of Greenlife Solar, LLC has been charged with stealing more than $485,000 from a private school, a church and a homeowner and could face up to a 15 years in prison, Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni announced on Tuesday.

Christopher Tzokas, 48, of Toms River, who allegedly bilked his clients of the money sometime between December of 2015 and June of 2016, has been charged with: one count of second-degree theft by deception and two counts of third-degree theft by deception.

Tzokas faces up to 10 years in New Jersey state prison on the second-degree charge, with up to five years without parole and fines of up to $150,000. He also faces an additional five years on each third-degree charge with up to 2.5 years without parole and up to $15,000 in fines. 

The case background …

An investigation began in June of 2017 after the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office received a call alerting that Tzokas committed theft against a school in the amount of $408,331. Further investigation determined that there were two additional victims: a church, for $43,493; and a homeowner for $33,468.75.  

The investigation determined that Tzokas would allegedly typically begin the solar installation process after receiving initial payments. He would then stop appearing at the job site and become inaccessible and unresponsive to the clients. Tzokas never continued any work and fraudulently spent the payments for his own personal use. 

Tzokas was charged with these crimes on Feb. 1, 2019 and was arrested by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office with the assistance of the Toms River Police Department. 

Anyone who has information to assist the investigative team is urged to contact Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office Detective Stephen Borchard at 800-533-7443.