A St. Rose couple who thought they were paying for renovations for their home instead found themselves out of $3,000 after the contractor they gave a down payment to last month disappeared.
The incident began when the couple received a brochure in their mailbox from a contracting company called Renovate International, which was based in the New Orleans area.
The couple contacted the company, and a representative who gave the name of S. Bently showed up to examine their home.
Bently told the couple that the work they wanted done would cost $40,000 and asked for a down payment of $3,000. The couple handed over the money and never saw or heard from Bently again.
“Everything seemed legit at the time,” Sheriff’s Office spokesman Capt. Pat Yoes said. “The couple even posed for a picture with the representative.”
The victims made repeated attempts to contact the company, but Yoes said that the company no longer inhabits the New Orleans’ area building.
The Sheriff’s Office released a picture of the man that the couple took in order to track him down.
Detectives were able to identify Bently as Garlon D. Batiste, whose last known address was 1121 Crete St. in New Orleans.
A warrant has been issued for his arrest.
Sheriff Greg Champagne also wants anyone else who might have been scammed by the same person to contact Pertuis at the numbers listed above.
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