An unlicensed contractor has been indicted on federal charges that he scammed an elderly Naples couple out of more than $1.26 million for bogus Hurricane Ian repairs — even after the home was sold and razed.

Luis Emilio Hernandez, 40, of 165 4th St. in Trail Acres, Naples, was arraigned by U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Nicholas P. Mizell on Oct. 16 in Fort Myers after a federal grand jury indicted him Sept. 24. The indictment was sealed until Sept. 30, when he appeared in court and was released on his own recognizance. He was ordered to take a mental-health exam, find verifiable employment and prohibited from seeking any financial credit.

Hernandez didn’t reply to an email or phone call and his assistant federal public defender, Jim Lappan, didn’t return an email seeking comment.

The indictment alleges that beginning on Nov. 23, 2022, through Jan. 26, 2024, Hernandez “knowingly and intentionally devised a scheme to defraud to obtain money and property through materially false and fraudulent pretenses, representations and promises. “Hernandez would and did cause Victim #1 to make thousands of dollars in payments to Hernandez, issuing him checks for flooring, an engineer inspection and other repair and construction services that were never completed,” the indictment says of the 85-year-old victim, noting Hernandez used the funds “to purchase vehicles and for other expenses for his personal benefit and the benefit of his family members.

“… Hernandez’s scheme consisted of him cashing checks from Victim #1, purchasing vehicles with those funds, then flipping those vehicles in trade-ins, and then purchasing other vehicles with additional funds from Victim #1’s checks and trade-ins, and so on and so on,” the indictment says. “Hernandez purchased and flipped vehicles from Car Dealership #1, Car Dealership #2 and Car Dealership #3.”

The indictment doesn’t provide information about the couple or where they lived, but says their single-family home, located on a Gulfaccess canal, suffered “significant damage” and has since been demolished, and the husband has since died.

Woman wrote 35 checks totaling $1.26M

After Hurricane Ian hit Naples on Sept. 28, 2022, Hernandez posed as a licensed contractor to fix the couple’s home. The woman wrote him personal checks that weren’t deposited but were cashed against her account, in amounts ranging from $200 to $120,000 in cashier’s checks payable to automobile dealerships.

The woman was introduced to Hernandez in November 2022 by her neighbor, who said he was a contractor and could help with repairs. Hernandez told the couple he was state licensed as a construction contractor and could complete repair and construction services, but needed “upfront payments” for building materials, labor costs and other repair and construction services.

An investigation by Det. Michael Zimmerman, of the U.S. Secret Service’s Southwest Florida Financial Crimes Strike Force, found no records to verify Hernandez worked for a construction company, only minor employment at an irrigation and landscape company. He’d earned $9,388.75 in 2022, but no income in subsequent years.

The initial agreement was for cleaning up yard debris and replacing drywall and windows on the home’s first floor. On Nov. 23, 2022, the woman wrote him a $7,000 check for “downstairs rehab.” Between Nov. 28, 2022, and Jan. 26, 2024, she wrote 34 more checks, with the 35 checks totaling $1,261,019.

Hernandez never obtained county permits

However, the Collier County Property Appraiser’s website showed no permits were pulled for the home until May 30, 2023, when it was demolished, and state Department of Business & Professional Regulation records say Hernandez never applied for and was never licensed in Florida.

DBPR records show he was issued a warning about unlicensed contracting on Jan. 27, 2023, when he was operating as House of Screens Services LLC, and issued a final order last November, prohibiting him from posing as a state-licensed, certified building contractor.

On Dec. 22, 2022, the indictment says, the woman told Hernandez she was no longer interested in fixing her home and was selling it, but “Hernandez continued to push her to repair the residence, telling her materials and other fees needed to be paid for and that work was already completed.”

On Feb. 24, 2023, the home sold for $2.5 million and was demolished three months later.

Despite that, Hernandez continued texting her and visiting her at an assisted living residence in Fort Myers to ask for more payments. She told the detective she never signed any contracts with Hernandez, and that he never provided a business card, a contractor’s license or any documentation to prove he was a contractor.

“The only thing Hernandez told her was he was able to complete her work and would ‘take care of her and her husband,’” the indictment says. “When asked why she continued to write checks to Hernandez, even after the sale of the property, Victim #1 said she was confused, was worried about her husband and that she trusted Hernandez was doing the right thing.”

She didn’t recall any supplies ever being delivered to her home.

Hernandez sought payments after home was razed

Three months after her home was sold, Hernandez asked to meet her on May 31, 2023, which was a day after her home was demolished. The next day — a month after the new owner applied for the demolition permit — she wrote him a $28,000 check for “flooring.”

“When they met in person, Hernandez would intentionally lull Victim #1 into providing him with money to repair the house,” the indictment says, noting he’d collect a check to “further deplete her of her finances” and used his cell phone to set up meetings, which constitutes wire fraud.

On Aug. 25, 2023, Hernandez asked to meet that week; she agreed, and six days later she wrote him a $21,500 check for an “engineer inspection.”

“This is another clear indication of the fraud scheme, as Victim #1 had already sold the home. There was no engineer inspection,” the indictment says.

County business tax certificates show Hernandez still operates as A.R.T. Home Services LLC and Screenings by Hernandez LLC; state corporate records list both as inactive. He also advertises another business, Hernandez Detailing, on Facebook.

Records list many other victims

It’s not the first time Hernandez has been accused of defrauding someone. In 2018, the Collier County Contractors Licensing Board fined him $1,000 for unlicensed landscaping; he never paid the fine. In December 2022, the CLB fined him $2,000 after a homeowner in Esplanade Golf & Country Club paid him a $2,500 deposit for a $5,000 job to replace several trees and shrubs at his Terrasina Drive home; Hernandez never replaced the trees, reimbursed the homeowner or paid the fine.

CLB records show Hernandez used the letterhead of J. Soto Landscaping LLC, but the owner of that company told investigators he’d never worked there and had no right to bid a job; Hernandez told the homeowner to write the check to him.

CLB records show 21 pages of texts between the homeowner and Hernandez between Dec. 21, 2021, and Sept. 21, 2022, in which Hernandez repeatedly delayed the job, claimed he was in Homestead to pick up trees, said he needed a larger truck and other excuses. The homeowner changed planting dates many times and Hernandez missed them all.

The homeowner demanded reimbursement and told Hernandez that 1012 other Esplanade homeowners, “elders and veterans” that he owes “lots of money” to, planned to file a state complaint.

“I have reached the end of my journey with you since I have not received any payment from you — only continued broken promises week upon week for months,” he texted Hernandez on Sept. 25, 2022. “Your words are never followed up by the actions that would relieve us of each other. I no longer believe you can get money that would allow you to pay your debt to me.”

The homeowner then hired Driftwood Garden Center to install the trees and plants.

DBPR records show that in November 2024, when he was operating as House of Screens Services LLC, Hernandez was ordered to stop posing as a statelicensed certified building contractor.

Collier court records show he borrowed $50,000 from a man in December 2020, which he promised to repay in installments by March 2021. He never repaid it and in March 2022, after ignoring the lawsuit, a judge ordered him to pay $61,478.07.

Court records also show he wrote a $5,000 bad check to Rick Hendrick Chevrolet and last October, a judge ordered him to pay $21,474.35. This May, he and his wife, Melissa, were sued by Ally Bank over a 2024 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck after they defaulted on monthly payments and were ordered to turn the truck over to the bank in September.

Clerk’s records show five judgments were filed this year against Hernandez and A.R.T. Home Services LLC, most for not performing work: $16,172 for rent and condo repairs at Pine Ridge Plaza; $4,527 owed to Heritage Bay homeowners; $12,000 owed to Carlton Lakes homeowners; $2,185 owed to Valencia Golf & Country Club homeowners; and $8,725.64 owed to Suncoast Credit Union for overdraft and insufficient fund fees.