Construction company and bank accused of fraudulent activity

A Jefferson County couple claims their bank and a construction company conspired to defraud them of money they intended to use to build a custom home.

Glenn and Gwendolyn Comeaux claim defendant Darrick McGriff, doing business as ABC Contracting, abandoned the construction of their home after it was only 70 percent complete. 

Yet, the company insisted on the Comeauxs paying it with the remainder of their construction loan, which it used to fund the construction of another house, according to the complaint filed July 2 in Jefferson County District Court.

Afterward, Neches Federal Credit Union, which had supplied the Comeauxs with the construction loan and had pressured them to pay ABC Contracting, foreclosed on the property, the suit states.

“The defendant Neches knew that the defendants McGriff and ABC had no real intention of completing the construction of this home, but instead the whole purpose of this transaction was for Neches to provide the plaintiffs’ money to the defendants McGriff and ABC, and then permit Neches to foreclose on the property, sell it, and be made whole on its own accord, including Neches’ profit based on its interest rate,” the complaint says.

The Comeauxs had originally hired ABC Contracting to build their home on Washington Avenue in Beaumont. They say the company breached its contract with them by failing to put in place a surety bond. The couple also says ABC Contracting breached the Texas Residential Construction Liability Act and the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act.

Neches, meanwhile, engaged in fraud, fraudulent inducement, negligent misrepresentation and breach of lending contract, according to the complaint.

In their complaint, the Comeauxs are seeking actual and statutory damages, plus an unspecified amount in the jurisdictional limits of Jefferson County District Court, costs, attorney’s fees and expenses.

John S. Morgan of Morgan Law Firm in Beaumont will be representing them.

The case has been assigned to Judge Milton Shuffield, 136^th District Court.

Case No. D194-520