Man faces federal wire fraud charges for alleged Texarkana business scam

TEXARKANA, Texas — A former employee faces six federal counts of wire fraud for allegedly defrauding a local construction company out of more than $260,000, according to court documents.

Dezmann Joseph Rice provided contract basis and then later employee services to Trumble Construction Inc. (TCI) doing business as RBT Construction, according to a recently unsealed federal indictment in the division's Texarkana division Eastern Texas.

Rice pleaded not guilty at a May 23 arraignment, according to court documents.

TCI has an office and manufacturing facility in Texarkana, Texas, and provides construction services to clients nationwide, according to the indictment.

In May 2020, Rice and Trumble entered into an agreement where Rice would oversee and manage water tank restoration projects for TCI throughout the country. TCI agreed to provide financing for the projects and Rice agreed to guarantee the labor, equipment and materials necessary for each of the respective projects, according to the indictment. Rice also agreed to provide on-site supervision and management of each of the projects, according to the indictment.

TCI and Rice agreed that once a project was successfully completed, Rice and TCI would share equally in the net profit from each respective project.

Beginning on or about January 6, 2020 and continuing on or about March 31, 2021, Rice allegedly devised a scheme to defraud TCI and obtain money and property through pretenses, representations and materially false and fraudulent promises, according to the indictment.

Rice allegedly defrauded TCI by billing for work and equipment never performed and never actually purchased, according to the indictment.

The case is scheduled to have a pretrial conference on July 2, with jury selection and trial set for July 22, before U.S. District Judge Robert Schroeder, according to court documents. Rice is represented by attorney Heath Hyde of Longview, Texas, according to court documents.