INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Attorney General’s Office has won a $352,225 judgment against a former hot rod shop in Whiteland that was first exposed by a WRTV investigation.
WRTV reported in 2022 that complaints about the JB Bugs Trick Truck N Rod are on the rise.
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Sheriff’s Office investigating growing number of complaints against Whiteland hot rod restoration shop
The customer claims he paid, but the store claims it didn’t do the work it promised.
Diane Kuhn of Fairland is among 20 customers listed in a $352,225 judgment against JB Bug’s Trick Truck N. Rod and its operators John Bragg and Melanie Goode. He is one of the
The state sued the hot rod shop in 2023 for “deceptive” business practices.
The company owes Diane $10,500 in restitution, according to the ruling, but Kuhn isn’t holding his breath.
“I really don’t think we’re going to get our money back,” Kuhn said. “I’m glad they finally got a verdict. But unfortunately, I don’t think we’ll ever receive the money.”
We first introduced Kuhn in 2022 after she said she paid JB Bugs Trick Truck N Rod to restore her 1971 Volkswagen Super Beetle, but the job was never completed. is.
Customers say John Bragg used the pseudonym JB Goode and claimed to be the owner of the shop, but it was actually his girlfriend Melanie Goode, who owned a hot rod shop. That’s what it means.
Following the WRTV investigation, Johnson County prosecutors filed criminal charges of theft and fraud against Bragg in October 2022.
After a five-month manhunt, Bragg was arrested in North Carolina in March 2023.
Mr. Bragg has not returned to Indiana to face the charges from Johnson County.
He is currently awaiting sentencing in Tennessee after pleading guilty to wire fraud for defrauding customers.
He is scheduled to be sentenced May 15 in federal court in Tennessee.
Prosecutor Lance Hamner said the pending fraud and theft charges in Johnson County are pending resolution of the federal case.
“Yes, we are still prosecuting him,” Hamner said in an email to WRTV.
The Indiana Attorney General’s Office says it will work to recover money for customers.
“While our office has worked hard to obtain a judgment from the court in this case, translating that judgment into money is a difficult and difficult task,” said Josh DeFons, media director for the Indiana Attorney General’s Office. “This could be difficult for businesses and individuals who have been forced to do so.” Email WRTV. “However, OAG has an Asset Recovery and Bankruptcy Section that continues its work and strives to find assets that satisfy these outstanding judgments in order to make Hoosier consumers as healthy as possible. .”
Diane Kuhn wants to meet Bragg in prison.
“I want him in prison forever,” Coon said. “We need to stop him. We don’t need any more victims!”
A WRTV investigation revealed that at the time of the alleged fraud and theft in Johnson County, Bragg was on probation for organized fraud in Walton County, Florida.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit, he defrauded a Florida victim out of more than $40,000 by telling her he was a lawyer who was retiring due to brain cancer.
John Bragg was also convicted of theft in Johnson County in 2007 and convicted of fraud and bigamy in Hancock County in 2009, WRTV Investigators reviewed Indiana court records. It turned out that it was.
Melanie Good has not been charged criminally in connection with JB Bugs Trick Truck and Rod’s business practices.
We have reached out to Attorney Bragg in Tennessee and are still waiting to hear back.
WRTV also reached out to Melanie Good for comment, but did not receive a response.