Monday March 20, 2023 | 1:00 p.m.
The dream of owning their own home faded in the worst way for Teresita Puy de Díaz (61) and her husband, who trusted an alleged builder to whom they paid 2,500,000 pesos for a project that turned out to be a scam.
The victims fell into the trap through a Facebook profile that is still active, so they decided to make their case public with the intention of preventing possible victims.
As a result of the bad drink, both the lady and her husband suffered health problems.
Meanwhile, the same defendant would weigh several complaints for alleged fraud in the construction of homes and pools.
“The truth is that I still cannot believe how we fell for the lies of this criminal. From June 2021 to October of last year, we gave him around 2,500,000 pesos to build our house, and all he did was a base and the walls. He even put pipes for the photo and then removed the pipes, ”explained Puy de Díaz.
In dialogue with El Territorio, he identified the false builder as César E., with an alleged address in Florentino Ameghino, who promotes his company through social networks.
“We contacted each other through Facebook and he sold us an image of a small-town boy, humble and hard-working. In his profile he has photos of houses and pools that he supposedly builds, but it’s all a lie. He takes advantage of people and continues to defraud with complete impunity, ”he lamented.
He specified that the agreement contemplated the delivery of a percentage of the estimated cost of the work and details of the type of construction. The couple did their part and on June 15, 2021, they delivered a first payment of 150,000 pesos in cash.
huge damage
Puy Díaz and her husband, retired from the Argentine National Gendarmerie (GNA), settled in Oberá in December 2010, after the tragic death of one of their five children, also a gendarme, who died in the line of duty.
“I am from Formosa and because of my husband’s work we traveled all over the country. That’s why we always live in rented houses. When my son passed away, we moved to Oberá and rented, but we wanted to have our house and so in 2021 we contacted César E. In June we started paying and in December we should have moved, but that never happened,” lamented the lady.
He mentioned that as soon as the base began, the trout builder began with a series of excuses that ranged from lack of personnel to illness or death of relatives, all with the aim of extending deadlines and getting more money from them.
“He made all possible excuses, he also complained about inflation and thus he kept us for more than a year where he only made the base and the walls, to top it off without chains. Apart from several cash payments, we also gave him a car for 850,000 pesos, ”she said indignantly.
At one point, the couple gave money for the purchase of the openings, which later disappeared and it turned out that they were sold by the defendant himself.
Later they found out that a well-known lawyer was the victim of the same individual, whom he defrauded with the construction of a swimming pool.
“A police officer also denounced him because he made a mess with the house. My concern is no longer about our case, because I don’t think we will recover anything, but I want to alert other people so that they don’t suffer the same as us because it caused us enormous damage,” Puy Díaz remarked.
Sell plants to pay debts
As a result of the scam suffered, Teresita Puy de Díaz began to sell plants to raise funds that allow her to face certain debts that she carries.
“I always liked plants, but now I started selling them to raise some money. My husband is 70 years old and retired, but he continues to work because of the damage that the scam caused us, ”he acknowledged.
Although the false builder signed several receipts for the money he received, Puy Díaz mentioned that “a legal study recommended that I turn the page because not much can be done. But I can’t do that. I suffered a heart attack and my husband had a stress crisis because of all this. It’s a lot of damage.”
In this regard, article 172 of the Penal Code cites: “Anyone who defrauds another with an assumed name, simulated quality, false titles, lied influence, breach of trust or pretending assets, credit, will be punished with imprisonment from one month to six years.” , commission, business or negotiation or using any other trick or deception”.
