HANOVER COUNTY, Va. (WRIC)– The Hanover Sheriff’s Office said a Midlothian man wanted for construction fraud has been arrested.
According to the Hanover County Sheriff’s Office, 34-year-old Geoffrey Cash was arrested in Virginia Beach due to an anonymous tip. Cash was wanted earlier this week for felony construction fraud.
The sheriff’s office said Cash had been running an unlicensed business called ‘Refresh Remodeling LLC.’ However, authorities said Cash has been operating under several other business names. Dozens have complained online of terrible work, jobs not being completed and thousands of dollars down the drain.
A Facebook page was made addressing homeowners’ issues and attempts to contact Cash. The page has over 100 likes.
His victims span statewide.
Grace Bustos is a Norfolk resident and said she hired Cash under ‘Home Renew LLC’ in 2019. Documents show Bustos signing a contract and installment agreement on Feb. 16.
Bustos told 8news, she had just bought her first home and had been searching for someone to build a sunroom. She decided to go with Home Renew LLC because of the price and the good vibe she received from a representative named Christina Pittman.
Bustos said other companies were asking for $45,000 and above and this company was asking for nearly $30,000 so she thought it was legitimate.
Months later the work began. However, she was left with mold, damaged vinyl, materials up against the fence and her sunroom now floods every time it rains.
She said it was never fixed.
“It’s just for storage purposes. We can’t live in it,” Bustos said.
She had agreed to finance the sunroom, paying the amount over a 10-year period. Her installment agreement required a down payment of more than $8,000, and $350 would be paid every month.
Bustos told 8news, she started reaching out to Cash, sending him photos of the sunroom. In text messages obtained by 8news, Cash said he was short staffed and said he was working on it.
According to Bustos, Cash eventually stopped returning her phone calls.
She said she also reached out to Pittman and wrote her a letter explaining the damage.
“You will know when you’re already at a point of no return,” Bustos said.
In June 2020, more than a year after Bustos signed the agreement, she was finally able to get her money back. She reached out to the company that was financing the sunroom payment and won her dispute after failed attempts to reach Cash.
The Hanover County Sheriff’s Office said they were alerted of three other victims in the county.
“Each victim did their due diligence,” Bustos said.
The Better Business Bureau lists an address for ‘Refresh Remodeling LLC’ on Hull Street in Midlothian. Business owners located near the address claim Cash was operating out of an office space for about a year. They said he disappeared towards the end of 2021. That’s when authorities and homeowners consistently stopped by to search for him.
According to a business owner, Cash would sometimes show up in a Tesla or Mercedes during the time that he operated out of the address in Midlothian.
“I regret it so much. Why did I trust them? But of course, if we’re talking about big numbers, you wouldn’t think about being swindled,” Bustos said.
Bustos told 8news, she’s grateful that she was able to get her money back. Others weren’t so lucky.
Anyone who believes they’ve been a victim of Cash, is asked to call the Hanover County Sheriff’s Office at 804-365-6140.
