Feds allege phony contractor scammed elderly Naples woman of $1.2M after storm

A 42-year-old Naples man has been indicted for allegedly defrauding an 85-year-old woman by posing as a contractor after Hurricane Ian and continuing to collect money from her, even after her damaged home was sold.

Luis Emilio Hernandez has been charged by the U.S. Department of Justice with two counts of wire fraud and six counts of money laundering. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in federal prison for each wire fraud count and up to 10 years for each money laundering count. 

The indictment also seeks the forfeiture of more than $1.2 million and other assets that can be traced back to the alleged fraud.

Prosecutors allege Hernandez presented himself as a licensed contractor, saying he would repair the unnamed victim’s house after it was damaged by the storm. 

Based on that, the then-85-year-old victim wrote multiple checks to Hernandez for construction supplies, equipment, inspections and other services. He is alleged to have bought and resold vehicles at several area car dealerships “in an effort to conceal the source of the money,” officials allege. 

The complaint further details a scheme that includes Hernandez allegedly traveling to the woman’s Fort Myers assisted living facility to continue collecting money for repairs on the home she had sold and whose new owners were seeking a permit to demolish.

The complaint is written by Michael Zimmerman, the task force agent with the U.S. Secret Service who investigated the allegations. It was notarized Sept. 25, five days before Hernandez was arrested and eight days before he was indicted.

According to the complaint, here is what happened:

The then-85-year-old victim and her now-deceased husband were introduced by a neighbor to Hernandez in November 2022. 

(Neither the complaint nor the indictment show how old the woman is now and when her husband died.)

The couple’s Naples home, a single-family house on a gulf access canal, suffered significant damage during Ian a few months earlier in September. Hernandez was said to be a contractor who could help with the repairs.

The original agreement was for Hernandez to clean up the couple’s yard and replace the drywall and windows on the first floor of the house. On Nov. 23, the woman wrote him a check for $7,000, writing “downstairs rehab” in the memo section.

That, according to the complaint, started what would become a nearly 14-month stretch where the woman wrote Hernandez 34 additional checks totalling $1.26 million. Each of the checks listed a construction related item in the memo section — window, materials, paints, permits.

Despite collecting the money, the complaint alleges he did not do the work and permits required for the job were never requested.

In fact, the first permit application following Ian was issued May 30, 2023. It was a demolition permit requested by the new owners who’d bought the house for $2.5 million Feb. 24, 2023.

Before the sale, in December, the woman had informed Hernandez she was no longer interested in repairs because the house was being put on the market. But Hernandez, according to the complaint, kept pushing her to make repairs, allegedly asking for payment for materials and work that had already been completed.

After the sale, Hernandez continued to reach out to the woman through text and visits to the Fort Myers assisted living facility she had moved to.

During one May 2023 visit, three months after the sale, she wrote Hernandez a check for $28,000, listing “flooring” in the memo section. And on an August visit, she wrote him a check for $21,500, listing “engineer inspection” in the memo section.

In all, between March 3, 2023 and Jan. 26, 2024, Hernandez allegedly received $1.14 million from the woman, according to the complaint. 

Zimmerman, the investigator, writes in the complaint that he met with the woman and was told Hernandez never provided her with a business card, a copy of a contractor’s license or any documentation “relating to being a contractor.”

The investigation turned up that he had never applied nor received any type of state license. And wage records showed his last reported income was for $9,388.75 in 2022.

Zimmerman writes in the complaint that he asked the woman why she kept paying even after the house sold. She “said she was confused, was worried about her husband, and that she trusted Hernandez was doing the right thing.”

Hernandez’s attorney, Douglas Molloy of Molloy Law in Fort Myers, writes in an email that “the defendant has been charged, and we are working with the government for a just resolution of the charges.”

Along with the Secret Service, the case is being investigated by the Lee County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Darcey is the prosecutor.