Judge dismisses homebuilder’s charge
Ruling comes after defense seeks testimony alleging employee, not owner, altered file
A Harris County judge on Thursday dismissed a seconddegree felony charge over an alleged document tampering case against high-end Houston homebuilder Roy Gabbay.
District Judge Michael McSpadden threw out the criminal charge against Gabbay after prosecutors found there was insufficient evidence to proceed.
Assistant district attorney Valerie Turner, chief of the consumer fraud section, said she could not discuss details of the case.
The defense, however, filed an earlier motion asking a judge to release grand jury testimony, noting that a witness and employee of RG Homes had admitted to having altered the document at issue.
“The district attorney’s office continued investigating and found out this case should not have been prosecuted to begin with,” said Cordt Akers, an attorney with the high-profile Cogdell Law Firm hired to represent Gabbay.
The employee, an architect and designer for the firm, could not be reached Thursday, and Turner said no new case has been filed at this time.
Last summer, the Harris County District Attorney’s Office charged Gabbay, founder of RG Homes, with tampering with a government document in relation to a home he was building in the affluent Bellaire neighborhood.
The charge was filed after a Bellaire building official discovered what he believed to be a forged certificate showing the home had passed an inspection. Gabbay was arrested July 25, accused of tampering with a government document with intent to defraud or harm another on July 19 at the City of Bellaire Building and Permits office.
Gabbay, 37, has also had a number of complaints from customers who contend their new homes had leaks, cracks, mold and other serious construction defects. Several of those homeowners have filed lawsuits against the builder or are in arbitration.
Gabbay has published websites that defend his company’s position on at least two separate customers’ complaints.