BRIGHTON — A man accused of swindling at-risk elderly adults said his wife was not directly involved in the dealings that allegedly led to the theft of $140,000.
Herman Melvin Hinojosa, 71, and his wife, Susan Marie Hinojosa, 58, face a for allegedly running a scam out of their Adams County businesses, Kitchens 4 Less and Kitchens 2 Go. The two are accused of requiring substantial or full up-front payments for kitchen remodels then doing little or no work on the projects.
The two are each charged with multiple counts of theft from an at-risk victim, felony theft of up to $20,000 and felony check fraud. Between April 2012 and November 2013, the Hinojosas allegedly scammed 27 victims.
Against the advice of his attorney, Herman Hinojosa took the witness stand and testified during the seventh day of his wife’s trial in Adams County District Court on Wednesday.
“Susan’s probably the best person I know,” Hinojosa said. “She did nothing but try to help us.”
Hinojosa said the couple’s business took a turn for the worse when he started struggling to hire and keep quality employees. The couple filed for bankruptcy in 2013.
The bankruptcy was one of the reasons Hinojosa, who is not a licensed contractor, was unable to finish dozens of projects, he said. Hinojosa said he also incurred overwhelming costs when clients were repeatedly unhappy with the work being done in their homes and demanded he fix the problems.
He described one of the victims in the case as “irrational.” The next victim “wanted to control everything,” he said.
“There was no making that woman happy,” Hinojosa said, describing a victim who allegedly lost $4,800.
Still, Hinojosa said Susan Hinojosa never did any work on creating estimates for projects or billing. “I don’t think she’s ever sold a kitchen.”
But according to an arrest affidavit, Susan Hinojosa told investigators she knowingly wrote bad checks and shared bookkeeping responsibilities with her husband.
Attorneys predicted that the jury would begin deliberating Susan Hinojosa’s case by Thursday.
Herman Hinojosa’s preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Feb. 10.
Jordan Steffen: 303-954-1794, jsteffen@denverpost.com or @jsteffendp
