A Fort Worth homebuilder pleaded guilty Tuesday to a $5 million wire fraud conspiracy charge after he and his wife admitted to orchestrating a plan to defraud dozens of victims through uncompleted construction and remodeling projects, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas.
Christopher Judge and his wife, Raquelle Judge, managed Judge DFW, a company they told customers offered custom architecture, construction and interior design services — work they never completed for dozens of victims despite accepting payments, according to federal prosecutors and court records.
The couple allegedly took around $4.8 million from over 40 victims across six North Texas counties that involved at least 24 different construction projects, the department announced in a statement Wednesday.
From around August 2020 to January 2023, the couple allegedly provided below-market bids to customers for work, which they started and accepted payments for but never fully completed, according to federal prosecutors. They also allegedly lied and said Christopher Judge was an architect, according to prosecutors.
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Victims were left without a completed home, according to the statement. The couple allegedly mixed payments into one account for the company, often using money from one project to pay for another customer’s requested work.
Christopher Judge pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and faces up to 20 years in federal prison, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Raquelle pleaded guilty earlier in December to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which subjects her to as many as five years in federal prison, according to the DOJ, among other punishments.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Fort Worth Resident Agency and the Euless Police Department conducted the investigation, with help from the U.S. Secret Service Task Force.
Sentencing is scheduled in April for Raquelle Judge and in May for Christopher Judge, officials said.