More FBI Raids

FBI agents raid two roofing contractors and a home in Cameron County, in a case resulting from a sealed federal indictment. According to Fernando Del Valle (cool name for an RGV reporter, by the way) of the Valley Morning Star:

Agents searched the offices of American Contracting USA Inc. in Combes and American Roofing in Rio Hondo, companies owned by Guadalupe Escobedo, according to Cameron County Appraisal District records.

In Combes, agents confiscated documents in the raid of a home off Rio Rancho Road that the appraisal district lists as owned by Leticia Escobedo.

A quick Google search shows American Contracting USA won a contract to fix the roof of the Cameron County courthouse five years ago (see the minutes from the June 26, 2001, county commissioners meeting; the link to the contract itself is broken). A company by that name has done roofing work for school districts elsewhere in the state as well.

Another cursory scan finds that American Roofing received a $300,000 contract from Brownsville for the Haggar building back in 1996 and a $68,000 contract for the county airport hangar in 1994.

The feds won't say what they're looking for in Combes and Rio Hondo, but the photo on the Star website shows an agent carrying a container labeled "bank statements." Given the trouble that another local contractor got into last year, I think we can make a pretty good guess as to the FBI's investigation.