A 64-year-old man from Miami has been arrested, accused of masquerading as a licensed roofing contractor and swindling numerous Miami-Dade County residents out of roughly $103,000, according to local authorities. John Luis McQueen, who allegedly operated under aliases including “Jeff Nash” and “Jeffrey McQueen,” is charged with an organized scheme to defraud and grand theft, among other offenses, reported Local 10 News.
The alleged scammer’s ruse involved posing as a licensed contractor and offering to perform roofing jobs which he was not legally authorized to do during the state of emergency; he’s accused of failing to complete, or in some cases, even start the work after accepting payments ranging from $5,450 to $12,900 per victim, Mcqueen targeted at least four victims between March 2018 and August 2019, but that number has since swelled to 13 as confirmed by Miami-Dade police last Friday, the dubious operative was also discovered to have used the credentials of a legitimate contractor on falsified documents to further deceive his clients, according to information from CBS News Miami.
At McQueen’s first court appearance following his arrest on March 27, he was slapped with a sizeable $250,000 bond; the presiding judge in the case mandated that McQueen provide evidence that the monies posted for bond came from a lawful source. In one particular instance, a defrauded victim detailed how McQueen, after receiving payment, left her roof with more holes and damage than before, when she reached out to him; her complaints were met with threatening messages, an all-too-common story among his other victims who also described similar experiences of silence or threats when attempting to contact McQueen after he failed to deliver on his promises.
Currently being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, McQueen faces a slew of charges, his web of alleged deceit extends beyond Florida’s borders with an active arrest warrant from Kentucky related to the fraudulent use of his brother’s identification. This latest development in McQueen’s saga was a joint investigative effort that included participation from Miami-Dade’s Department of Regulatory and Economic Resources, Key Biscayne police, and Hallandale Beach police, as victims now reckon with the fallout from his unfulfilled contracts and the search for justice continues.
hoodline.com
https://hoodline.com/2024/03/miami-man-charged-in-103-000-roofing-scam-accused-of-posing-as-licensed-contractor/
