How Texas couple conned over 40 clients with unfinished homes in nearly $5,000,000 fraud scheme
Christopher and Raquelle Judge will be sentenced later this year after an investigation
A couple from Texas conned over 40 clients out of nearly $5 million in a shocking scheme.
Christopher Judge and his wife, Raquelle, both of Fort Worth, Texas, marketed themselves and their company, Judge DFW LLC, as a provider of custom home builds, interior design and renovations; however, an investigation found that the couple knowingly pocketed money from their clients with no intention of completing the work.
According to CBS, the pair sought their clients from social media, promising a quick turnaround and low costs, with one couple cashing out $364,000.
Overall, it is estimated that around $4.8 million in losses were incurred across 24 projects.
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According to a news release from the US States Attorney's Office, the Judges planned their scheme from August 2020 to January 2023 through their company, with victims receiving 'below-market bids from Judge DFW and executed design and build contracts for the work'.
The release also says that they falsely labelled Christopher as being an architect.
Two of the couple’s victims, Lane Simmons and his wife, said they were recommended the Judges' company in a local social media group, and their bid to remodel their home was significantly lower when compared with other companies they'd looked at.
“They came out to our house and really pitched themselves as like this Chip and Joanna Gaines type of vibe,” Simmons shared via WFAA.
But the excitement for the future of their home was short-lived, as Simmons says that 'everything they did is wrong'.
"Within weeks, my tile is cracking. My floors are cracking. My kitchen floor is sinking in. The exterior trim looks like a child did it. All the framing, we had to re-tear out and rebuild," he said. "My staircase had to be re-torn out and rebuilt. It was only held up by one piece of board on the inside.
"Just code violation after code violation."
Meanwhile, Kristin Newman hired them in 2021 to build a house for $200,000; however, she said they 'only got to framing and putting a roof on the house'.
She terminated their contract and spent another $200,000 to finish the project, which she was forced to sell later.
Across all 24 construction projects cited in the fraud case, victims said they were presented with 'below-market bids' from the Judges, who persuaded them by claiming the lower prices were due to the couple being new to the business.
Simmons said they paid the Judges more than $200,000 and had to pay even more of their own money to fix the mistakes.
“We had a family friend that’s also a contractor come over and look over everything, and he’s like, 'Man, there’s a lot of this is unsafe',” he said. “This is like the worst job I’ve probably ever seen.”
Court documents show that the couple spent $82,000 on Amazon purchases, $27,000 on their mortgage payments, and $10,000 on plastic surgery, among other things, with the money (via NBC DFW).
Both Christopher Judge and Raquelle Judge have pleaded guilty to committing wire fraud, federal prosecutors said. Christopher Judge faces up to 20 years in prison, while Raquelle Judge faces a maximum sentence of five years.
Both defendants also face potential fines, restitution, and supervised release terms. Raquelle Judge is scheduled to be sentenced on April 14, 2026, and Christopher Judge on May 12, 2026.
Gregory Robinson