Unlicensed contractor at the center of a Troubleshooter investigation facing new charges

CHATHAM COUNTY, N.C. (WTVD) -- The law caught up with Jorge Alberto Garcia again. The unlicensed contractor who's been the center of a Troubleshooter investigation is now facing charges in Chatham County.

Garica is charged with felony elderly exploitation, felony obtaining property by false pretenses, and four counts of felony writing worthless checks.

Investigators say Garcia charged an elderly couple nearly $52,000 to paint their home between June and July 2018. After failing to perform the work, investigators say Garcia "refunded" the couple approximately $49,000 in worthless checks.

These latest charges are on top of the charges we first told you about in March.

Durham police charged Garcia, owner of J&J Home improvements, with two counts of financial elder abuse. All of these charges come after our investigation in January where we showed you how several of Garcia's customers were left with unfinished jobs despite paying thousands of dollars for the work.

On many of the jobs, Garcia took more than $30,000 for the work- work he is not licensed to do.

I did catch up with Garcia. At the time, he admitted he took on work he was not licensed to do but said he would make things right with many of the customers who were owed money or needed work done.

On the latest charges in Chatman County, Garcia was given a $10,000 secured bond and is scheduled to appear in Chatham County District Court in Pittsboro on July 22.

In North Carolina, contractors must be licensed to do any work valued at more than $30,000.

You can check a contractor's license status on the state licensing board website.

Since a consent order is in place where Garcia agreed to not take on any jobs he's not licensed to do, the North Carolina Licensing Board for General Contracting said it has opened an investigation because of our new story involving several cases where Garcia took on jobs for more than $30,000.