A Texas couple who sold themselves as Chip and Joanna Gaines-style homebuilders secretly scammed customers out of millions by taking payments to build dream homes they never planned to finish.
Christopher and Raquelle Judge, of Fort Worth, marketed themselves as a custom homebuilding and remodeling business – only to pocket their clients’ cash instead.
Christopher, 35, pled guilty to a wire fraud conspiracy charge on Tuesday after Raquelle, 36, did so earlier this month, admitting they defrauded more than 40 customers of approximately $4.8million.
Instead of using the money to complete the promised construction projects, the Judges diverted the funds for personal use between August 2020 and January 2023.
That included $96,000 on building their luxurious $613,000 home, $65,000 on legal fees, $38,000 on rent and mortgage payments, and $10,000 on unspecified plastic surgery procedures, according to prosecutors.
The couple also used the fraudulent funds to pay for Amazon purchases, personal credit cards, tuition fees and ‘luxury items.’
Christopher faces up to 20 years in federal prison, while Raquelle can only receive a maximum sentence of five years.
An indictment filed September 3 in the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas detailed how the married couple stole millions of dollars.
The Judges offered architecture, construction, and interior design services online under a company called Judge DFW.
Christopher falsely advertised his services as an architect on social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
Once a potential customer got in touch to build or remodel a home, Christopher would submit a below–market bid for the project and promise that it would be completed within four to six months.
After securing a client, the Judges asked for money to be transferred to a business bank account – only for the husband and wife to move the funds into other accounts for their own expenses.
The Judges never intended to finish the custom home projects, per the indictment.
Instead, they would do ‘partial work’ to induce the victims to keep making payments, effectively funding their luxury lifestyle.
The couple would hire subcontractors of a ‘substandard’ quality to perform minimal reforms and then not pay them, per the indictment.
If customers raised concerns about the delays in construction, the Judges would ‘make excuses’ to ensure that the money kept coming in.
The end result was that customers were often left without a completed residence to live in.
At least 24 construction projects, none of which were ever completed, were used to carry out the scam.
One use of the funds was for their own home, per the indictment. The judges live in a $613,000 home in Keller, Texas.
Customers were assured ‘that problems and delays in construction would be corrected and that the project would be completed on time if [they] continued to make their installment payments,’ according to prosecutors.
The indictment showed how the husband and wife received thousands of dollars – adding up to millions – from unsuspecting homeowners in Texas.
One individual in Justin made 13 payments for a total of $263,240, federal prosecutors showed.
Another person paid the Judges #436,310 over 12 installments for a project in Decatur.
As the Judges ran their custom home projects scam, questions were raised about Christopher’s purported background as an architect, realtor and builder.
In May 2022, the Texas Board of Architecture got involved by issuing him a ‘formal warning’ for misrepresenting his profession.
However, that did little to deter the Judges – who continued falsely advertising and enriching themselves until January 2023.
The investigation into the couple’s fraudulent business was conducted by the FBI’s Fort Worth Resident Agency and the Euless Police Department, with assistance from the US Secret Service.
Christopher pled guilty on Tuesday, while Raquelle pled guilty on December 17.
The husband will be sentenced on May 12 and the wife will be sentenced on April 14.
