PHOENIX — A Valley man running a sprinkler company is facing a slew of charges. He's been accused of defrauding customers for years in multiple cities.
Scottsdale PD alleges Gustavo Urcadez Ruiz would charge customers for work through his company Sprinkler Zones, save their credit card information, and then steal tens of thousands of dollars.
Alleged fraudulent contractor steals thousands from customers, flees police
Court records show in September, Ruiz was hired by a Scottsdale resident to fix a sprinkler issue. The cost for the job was $159. She paid on an iPad presented by Ruiz. Within 24 hours, her credit card was charged nearly $12,000.
The customer called the police and detectives quickly learned she was not alone.
They discovered additional alleged victims in Phoenix and Peoria. Each was fraudulently charged around $15,000 after working with Ruiz. Customers told police he changed his contact information after the transaction.
Customers identified Ruiz as "Tony" so to identify him, police looked up the Arizona Registrar of Contractors license number he used. Police say it belonged to a different sprinkler company. The rightful owner of the license helped point police to Ruiz's old website which allowed detectives to get his full name.
They conducted an investigative search of Ruiz and the photo matched the man seen on Ring camera footage provided by customers.
Ruiz, 34, was arrested in November, but after his arrest, he disappeared.
He was tracked down again by police in May at a Mesa apartment complex near Southern Avenue and Dobson Road. He fled from the police and dumped his work truck. He was arrested on June 11.
Suspect has extensive criminal history and multiple warrants out for arrest
Police discovered Ruiz had felony warrants for failing to appear for sentencing in prior larceny and credit card theft cases. He also had a warrant out of Pima County for working without a contracting license.
Court records also allege Ruiz defrauded additional customers in the Valley dating back to at least 2020. He has pending cases on those charges.
Ruiz was indicted this week on multiple charges including four counts of aggravated identity theft, four counts of fraudulent use of a credit card and one count of unlawful flight from law enforcement.
He is being held without bail.
Registrar of Contractors had prior complaints
The Arizona Registrar of Contractors received ten unlicensed complaints about Ruiz from 2015 to 2017.
He is not currently under investigation by the ROC.
An ROC spokesperson said customers should always check for a contractor's license. A license can be verified here.
In this case, Ruiz is accused of stealing a legitimate company's license. To best protect yourself from being defrauded, the spokesperson said customers should carefully look for a company vehicle, logos, contracts, etc.
If something doesn't seem right, you can file a complaint with the ROC here.
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