TOMS RIVER, NJ – Two out-of-state contractors who defrauded Superstorm Sandy victims in Ocean County out of a half-million dollars have pleaded guilty in court, according to Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer.
John Bishop, 57, of Celebration, Florida, and his business partner, Paul Rueda, 50, of San Diego, Texas, pled guilty before Judge Puglisi to theft without delivering their contracted services.
“Both defendants’ guilty pleas relate to their stealing funds through contractor businesses they operated between October 2014 and May 2017 in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy in Ocean, Monmouth and Middlesex Counties,” Billhimer said.
As part of their plea agreements, Bishop has agreed to pay $178,425 in restitution to the victims; Rueda has agreed to pay $542,800 in restitution to the victims.
“An investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Economic Crimes Unit revealed that Bishop and Rueda formed John Paul Building, LLC, in November 2012. The investigation further revealed that six homeowners throughout Ocean, Monmouth, and Middlesex Counties entered into contracts with John Paul Builders, LLC, to repair their homes following Superstorm Sandy,” Billhimer said. “Collectively, these homeowners paid John Paul Builders, LLC, in excess of $350,000, which the defendants agreed to use to complete the projects. The homeowners received little to no work on their projects, however, and the company disbanded without returning any of the funds to the homeowners.”
They didn’t stop there though. According to Billhimer, between July 2016 and May 2017, Rueda entered in agreements with four additional homeowners under his newly formed contracting business, PKR Construction. These homeowners paid PKR Construction a total of $363,575 towards construction projects on their properties. Although some work was done by PKR Construction, Rueda converted the victims’ funds to his own personal use and benefit and failed to complete the projects.