Court documents: Indicted Georgetown homebuilder allegedly tried to get witness to lie

GEORGETOWN, Texas (KXAN) -- A grand jury in Williamson County indicted Georgetown homebuilder Norman Ashby on the charges of witness tampering, theft of service greater than $300,000 and misapplication of fiduciary property greater than $300,000.

Court documents KXAN obtained Monday detail those charges further.

• Court records - Ashby allegedly mishandled customer's money: A grand jury believed there was probable cause to believe Ashby "comingled" more than $300,000 he received from a man, who the OAG said was a customer, with Ashby's business account connected to Ashby Signature Homes, LLC. The indictments documents state this was done "in a manner that involved substantial risk of loss" of the customer's money.
• Witness tampering: The court records said that this month, Ashby reportedly addressed a man who was going to be called to testify to a grand jury in this case, "falsely" told that man he was "one of the targets of the investigation, with the intent to influence" the man to either lie, withhold information or abstain from the hearing.
• Theft of service: This charge, according to court documents, is related to a five-month period starting at the beginning of last year when Ashby allegedly didn't pay thousands of dollars he owed to an electrical company.

"I'm very surprised to hear it. I knew he'd had some financial trouble, but did not realize to this level," said Elbert Johnson, one of Ashby's former customers. "We built with him back during the pandemic, generally it was pretty good. Pleased with the property, pleased with the house."

According to the OAG, the investigation is ongoing.

The Better Business Bureau couldn't comment on this case specifically, but said fast-growing areas like Georgetown can be hotbeds for potentially fraudulent activity on behalf of contractors.

"We see it all over the state, but especially when new housing developments go up," said Jason Meza with the BBB.

He offered the following advice for people working with and/or seeking out homebuilders:

• Be weary if someone wants more than 50% upfront in cash, good contractors should have the means to purchase supplies etc. without a hefty deposit from you
• Try to get estimates from at least three different businesses before deciding on one

Ashby Signature Homes is listed online as being permanently closed, and the phone number for the business did not work when we tried calling.

At last check, there was no attorney listed for Ashby. We will reach out to his lawyer and update this story when that changes.