KEY COLONY BEACH, Fla. – A Key Colony Beach property owner paid a contractor $35,000 for deck work, but deputies said not only did the work never get done — the contractor never even purchased any supplies for the project.
Argelio Rivas, 57, of southwest Miami-Dade, is now facing a grand theft charge in the Florida Keys following his arrest Thursday.
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Rivas, according to an arrest warrant from the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, co-owns a company called “Treasures from Sea, LLC.”
The victim, deputies said, hired him for two projects in 2022, including installing “wave breaks” on his waterfront property.
Authorities said Rivas did apply for a permit for the project, but never picked it up.
He’s accused of providing the homeowner a continuous list of excuses as to why the work couldn’t be done, including family, health and work issues.
Deputies said when the homeowner asked Rivas for his $35,000 deposit back, including via a demand letter from his attorney, he never received a response or got his money back.
An MCSO detective set up a meeting with Rivas in February, but his attorney later called and cancelled the meeting, saying the case was civil in nature and he was “not to speak” with authorities, the warrant states.
Rivas was released from MCSO’s Plantation Key jail facility on a $10,000 bond shortly after his arrest.