Victims speak out as police say fake roofer robs 13 victims of $103,000
MIAMI GARDENS - Victims are speaking out after Miami-Dade Police say they have busted a Miami man they said had been posing as a licensed roofer and who is accused of stealing $103,000 from 13 victims.
Police say 64-year-old John McQueen is charged with organized scheme to defraud, identity fraud, grand theft and contracting without a license during an emergency during the COVID-19 pandemic. They say the cases date back to August of 2019 and, in some cases, victims paid money to a company called Champion Roof Consultants.
Victoria Jackson of Miami Gardens is one of the victims and she told CBS News Miami's Peter D'Oench, "I gave him $7,795 and that was half the payment for repair work on our roof. No work was done. I gave him the check and he cashed it the same day and he never showed up and I tried to call him and finally, he answered and he was very nasty to me. I told him I wanted to get my money back and he started laughing at me and now I am glad to see he is under arrest."
She said, "I am so hurt because I trust people. I trust people and I am nice to everybody. He sat on my porch and we talked for over an hour. He spoke about his son and his son's school and I thought I could trust him. I talked to him on a personal level and I was hoping to get a new roof and he promised that. If you look at him you would never think something like this would happen."
Her husband Wayne said, "I feel like I am to blame. I was the one who found him and he gave us a good story. He said he was a good roofer and said he had been in business for many years and we put our faith in him and he robbed us of our money. I feel terrible. He really gave us a sob story and said he cared about his family and wanted to hire a tutor for his son who had a learning disability."
He said, "All I can say now is check everyone out. Check the Better Business Bureau and check their backgrounds and how they work and the comments about them and the reviews online."
Miami-Dade police urge you to be thorough in your checks and check with sources like Florida Sun Biz and you can also check the Miami-Dade Department of Regulatory and Economic Resources by calling (786) 315-2561.
Detective Geordi Estepan said McQueen used aliases including Jeffrey Nash and Jeffrey McQueen.
He said, "We believe he was a con artist. He pretended to be a licensed roofer and working for a legitimate company when he was not doing that and was using someone else's license. In some cases, he did the work but in most cases, he did not. He often took 40 or 50 percent and disappeared. My concern is that if proper work is not being done that could become a huge issue when a storm comes."
He said, "Our message is we are doing the investigations and if you are doing anything like this we will find you."
Police said there were arrest warrants for McQueen from Kentucky and Indiana for illegal use of identification.
