A couple from Houston has gambled away tens of thousands of dollars it got from clients of its construction company without finishing the work it was supposed to do. The family would come up with all kinds of lies, going as far as to claim that the husband, Aleck Miller, had had a heart attack.
Ria Krishna and Rohan Krishna had hired the services of Miller and his teacher wife, Andrea Pierce Miller, asking them to erect a covered patio and put in an extra driveway lane at their home in Friendswood.
At first, everything seemed legit, according to Rohan. He explained that Aleck seemed very professional and responsive. However, Miller’s reliability turned out to be a false pretense. After the man failed to do the work, the Krishnas became concerned.
Ria tried contacting the Millers who “always had an excuse for everything.” At one point, Andrea even went as far as claiming that her husband had suffered a heart attack. This turned out to be untrue, according to a later investigation.
The thing is that the Krishnas had already invested a significant sum in the project. Originally estimated to cost $30,000, the work turned out to be much more expensive. In addition to demanding $11,125 to be paid upfront, Miller also asked for another $500 for supplies, then another $2,500 for upgraded flooring. After paying a final deposit of $3,750, the Krishnas found themselves unable to contact Miller. In total, the sum the Krishnas paid was north of $18,000.
In the meantime, the Krishnas’ backyard was almost untouched, with the exception of a visit from a concrete crew that stooped after realizing that their check from Miller came back as insufficient.
The Fraudsters Gambled the Money Away
The Krishnas eventually realized that they had been scammed. And, as it turned out, they weren’t the only ones. According to court records, other scammed families have paid another $87,125 to the fraudsters.
So, where did the money go? As it turns out, the Millers were using the money to go on gambling vacations across the United States. Investigation showed that Miller was busy gambling at lavish casinos in Louisiana, Mississippi and Nevada on days he claimed to be in bad health.
Records show that the Millers may have spent as much as $1.53 million on gambling at the Golden Nugget Casino in Lake Charles, Louisiana, alone.
Both Aleck and Andrea are wanted on a felony theft aggregate charge. The arrest warrants were filed on Thursday.
In the meantime, the Krishnas found the reality hard to swallow but eventually hired contracted someone else and had their project completed. The couple hopes that others will not repeat the same mistake they made.