FLORIDA — A man was arrested after officials say he defrauded nearly 100 homeowners across Florida through his business.
Attorney General Ashley Moody said Ricardo Villarroel Duerto, owner of Villa Pavers and Pools, along with salespeople and a licensed general contractor, defrauded the victims in excess of $1 million.
According to officials, Villarroel targeted victims by promoting low prices on pools compared to market value across multiple counties, including Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco. They added he used this tactic to pocket "significant" deposits without following through on installation.
Law enforcement officials said they then began to receive complaints that claimed Villa Pavers and Pools collected around 40% of the contracted price from victims for pool installation but did not complete the job.
The investigation found that some installations even resulted in "giant holes" in the victims' backyards, while other projects never started at all—Villarroel simply cut off communication after taking the deposit.
Officials added that Villarroel teamed with licensed general contractor Luis Alvarez of Conquer Builders, who sold the use of his general contractor license to Villa Pavers and Pools, an unlicensed contractor company, to present a contractor license to homeowners and obtain building permits.
According to officials, Villarroel then used the license repeatedly and hired two salespeople, Michael Borrego Fernandez and Laura Ballester Alpizar, to gain contracts.
Villarroel was sentenced to 18 years in prison for racketeering and conspiracy to commit racketeering. Alvarez, Borrego and Ballester are in custody and facing the same charges as Villarroel.
Alvarez pled guilty to both charges with a sentence pending. Borrego and Ballester are out on bond.
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