A Texas couple has pleaded guilty to federal charges after prosecutors revealed they used social media to defraud dozens of homeowners out of nearly $5 million under the guise of custom homes and renovations.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas, Christopher and Raquelle Judge, a married couple from Fort Worth, admitted to carrying out an elaborate scheme to deceive customers through their home renovation business, Judge DFW LLC, between August 2020 and January 2023.
The pair billed themselves as a one-stop shop for custom architecture, interior design and construction services, luring customers through social media to advertise their business while falsely claiming Christopher was an experienced architect.
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“They came out to our house… and really pitched themselves as like this Chip and Joanna Gaines type of vibe,” Lane Simmons, one of the Judges’ clients, told WFAA.
Federal prosecutors revealed the couple would present clients with below-market bids to secure building contracts, before starting projects that were never finished and ultimately left victims with incomplete residences.
In the town of Runaway Bay, Christopher Judge reportedly was slapped with a total of 424 citations for code enforcement violations, which ultimately led to the FBI taking up the case.
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“There were families whose kids did not get Christmas for a year or two,” Kalie Simmons, another victim of the Judges, told FOX 4. “There were families that filed bankruptcy.”
Plea documents indicate the Judges defrauded over 40 victims throughout six Texas counties, involving at least 24 different construction projects.
Court documents also showed the pair commingled victims’ payments in their primary business account, often pulling installment payments from individuals to fund unrelated construction projects – amassing a total of around $4.8 million in losses.
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Federal prosecutors say the pair then spent the money on mortgage payments, living expenses and even plastic surgery while evading questions from their victims regarding delays in construction and incomplete projects.
“You just need to be careful about who you give the money to,” Roper, a former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, told FOX 4. “If it’s too good to be true, it’s probably not true.”
“You gotta wonder what happened to the money,” Roper said.
Last month, Christopher Judge pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and faces up to 20 years behind bars in federal prison. Raquelle Judge also pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which has a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.
Fox News Digital was unable to immediately locate Christopher Judge’s attorney for comment. Raquelle Judge’s attorney did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
The pair is scheduled to be sentenced separately later this year, according to federal prosecutors.
