A federal indictment unsealed last week1 charges Dezmann Joseph Rice, a former employee of Texarkana-based Trumble Construction Inc. (also known as RBT Construction Inc.), with defrauding the company of over $260,000 through fraudulent invoices in 2020 and 2021. Rice had allegedly contracted with Trumble Construction to supervise and manage water tank restoration projects across the country. However, he exploited this arrangement by submitting bogus expense reports for labor, materials, and services that were never performed or purchased. From January 2020 through March 2021, Rice scammed Trumble Construction out of $260,230 by billing for work and equipment that never actually existed2. He appeared for arraignment before U.S. Magistrate Judge James Boone Baxter, where his attorney entered pleas of not guilty to each of the six counts listed in Rice’s indictment. Rice was released on a $20,000 unsecured appearance bond, and his jury trial is scheduled for July before U.S. District Judge Robert Schroeder III. If convicted, Rice could face up to 20 years in federal prison for each of the six counts of wire fraud1.
