The owners of a Fort Worth roofing company were arrested on theft charges after they took more than $100,000 from 27 homeowners but did no work, according to prosecutors.
Raul Garcia, 40, and his wife Melissa Garcia, 39, were indicted last month by a Tarrant County grand jury on a charge of theft between $100,000 and $200,000 from 27 alleged victims.
The charge is a second-degree felony which carries a sentence of between two and 20 years.
Eddie Moore, 83, and his wife Syble, 84, of Grand Prairie, were two of the Garcia’s alleged victims.
The Moores, who have been married 64 years, said Raul Garcia knocked on their door after a bad hailstorm had damaged their roof.
Syble Moore said she trusted him at first because he seemed like a family man.
"Oh yeah, he was real friendly,” she said. “He brought his little boy out with him ... Nice family. He and his wife were working together."
She said Garcia wanted some money up front and she gave him $2,000.
"He vanished and didn't come back,” Moore said. “I kept trying to call the office and they were always busy or with another customer or they were out."
The Better Business Bureau gives the Garcias’ business, R & M Construction, an "F" rating. The company failed to respond to 14 of 17 complaints, according to the BBB’s website.
Court records obtained by NBC 5 Investigates show the couple declared bankruptcy last year, claiming they had assets of $16,000 and owed $246,483.
The Moores said they had to come up with more money and hire someone else to fix their roof.
They said they've learned a lesson to not be so trusting.
"I couldn't believe he did something like this when he had his little boy with him,” Moore said. “And he talked about his daughter and his son and he was a family man."
