Alaska state troopers arrested a part-time Skagway resident on charges of theft earlier this month. Investigators say the worker defrauded an elderly Skagway woman and the company he worked for.
According to court documents, the elderly Skagway resident hired local contractor Hunz and Hunz to complete some deck repair and yard work in late 2019.
Hunz and Hunz sent their company’s general manager Jose de Jesus Orozco Santos to do the job. Orozco Santos completed the work, then left for a vacation in Mexico. The invoice for the work completed was supposed to total $13,997.81.
Orozco Santos then told the woman, who splits time between Skagway and Texas, to pay him directly with a cashier’s check for $15,000. She went to the bank, had the check drawn, and mailed it to him in mid-December of 2019.
According to the arrest warrant, Orozco Santos then told the client that she actually owed him more money and requested that she send an additional cashier’s check for $5,000. The victim, believing she had not yet paid for some tree removal, sent the additional check.
The accused continued working with Hunz and Hunz and made multiple trips to Mexico in March, June, and November of 2020.
Hunz and Hunz finally discovered the discrepancy in February of this year after the 90-year-old client responded to an overdue notice. They then contacted the Alaska State Troopers. After a thorough investigation, officers concluded that Orozco Santos had overcharged the client and also charged the victim for work he hadn’t done, while never giving any of the funds to the company that he worked for. The State Troopers issued an arrest warrant, but the accused was still out of state.
This March, Orozco Santos requested financial assistance from Hunz and Hunz to help him return to Skagway for work.Hunz and Hunz said they would help with airline miles. They also promised him housing once he returned to town. Their intention, however, was to terminate his employment and housing agreement upon his return.
More pressing for Orozco Santos, was that the state troopers were awaiting the arrival of his flight in Juneau. Officers arrested him on March 10th on two counts of theft in the second degree. He has a court hearing scheduled for April 8th.
