HOUSTON—A former employee of a major Houston law firm is charged with collecting property taxes for the City of Houston, forging checks given to him by property owners and depositing the money in his own personal bank account.
The Harris County District Attorney’s Office has charged Roel Garcia, 39, with felony theft after accusations surfaced during his employment at the law firm Linebarger, Goggan, Blair & Sampson. The firm acts as a debt collector for municipalities and school districts throughout Texas.
Court documents, obtained by 11 News, show Garcia was hired by the law firm in November 2001. He is accused of forging documents and stealing from at least two taxpayers in late 2007.
Prosecutors say Garcia quit his job in October 2009 after learning that Linebarger had launched its own internal investigation.
The law firm says Garcia was fired.
One of his alleged victims is Frances McCowan of Houston.
"That’s not good when I pay you to steal my money," McCowan said of the taxpayer funding that goes from counties and cities to the Linebarger firm. "That’s not good."
McCowan inherited a vacant lot in Acres Homes. Tax bills became delinquent on the family-owned property and, in accordance with City of Houston protocol, she was eventually contacted by the Linebarger firm. Their representative was Roel Garcia.
McCowan said Garcia asked her to pay the delinquent fee of $794.06 by money order.
Photocopies of the money orders show she paid him a $500 money order first, followed by a second money order of $294.06. Both were written to Paul Bettencourt, the Harris County Tax Assessor at the time.
But McCowan continued to receive delinquent property tax notices, so she asked Western Union for photocopies of the cleared checks. She was appalled by what she found.
The same checks with the exact same Western Union check numbers were no longer written to Paul Bettencourt. Each money order had the name, home address and signature of Roel Garcia. Photocopies of the reverse side showed a Roel Garcia signature endorsement on the back as well. Prosecutors say he deposited McCowan’s money in his own bank account and never forwarded the money to her property tax account.
McCowan says she confronted Garcia.
"He laughed in my face and told me to get an attorney to prove it. I said, ‘You think you’re laughing now. I’m gonna get the last laugh.’"
Prosecutors charged Roel Garcia with theft last month. An additional taxpayer also included in the lawsuit said Garcia stole $1,400 from him using the exact same method.
"Only one person has been charged and only two people have been identified has having their money orders forged or altered by this man," said Assistant District Attorney Joshua Somers. "And at this point, further investigation is pending."
The Linebarger law firm, citing the sensitivity of the ongoing investigation, agreed only to respond in the form of a written statement:
"When this individual’s alleged misconduct came to our attention we quickly commenced an internal investigation. Upon confirming the allegations we terminated him and worked with the Houston Police Department, the Harris County District Attorney and our local government clients to secure criminal indictments against him. We appreciate the efforts of everyone involved and are committed to making sure that no taxpayer and no local government is harmed in any way as a result of this person’s illegal actions."
McCowan said the firm has since repaid her missing taxes.
11 News was unable to reach Roel Garcia for comment. He is free on bail and faces up to two years in prison if convicted.
As for Frances McCowan, the last laugh she promised does appear to be hers.
"I told him, ‘You messed with the wrong person,’" she said.
