Humble church needs help
By Gregg Wendorf
Advance News Journal
How does a guy, a local contractor, basically fail to repay $22,000 he took from a small, humble church in McAllen while posting photos on social media that suggest he’s anything but broke?
The church, Sinai Church in McAllen, located in the 800 block of 19th Street, worked for approximately 20 years to raise money to build a fellowship hall measuring approximately 1,050 feet.
Finally, the day arrived in the summer of 2021 when the church board had raised $45,450 and contracted with Raymundo Carrizales and his company, A One, to begin construction of the hall that was supposed to cost $85,000, per contract, when the work was completely finished.
The $45,450 was listed on the signed contract as the first draw.
Approximately halfway through Phase 1, however, Carrizales quit the work, walked off the church job, but the check had already been cashed.
On July 11, 2023, approximately two years later, after multiple attempts by the church board to reach out to him, Carrizales wrote Sinai a letter, which reads (in unedited fashion): “This letter is to a response to Sinai Church; Aone is still trying to work on a solution to this specific project (the new fellowship hall). The solution of the construction of the building has already been addressed. We apologize that we could not come into terms due to our delay on other projects that brought us on being delayed with Sinai Church project.”
Hard to decipher what exactly he means, but there is more: “Aone will return a portion of money to Sinai Church so they can finish their project; the rest of the money has already been invested on the project. The total amount that will be returned will be $21,800.00 within 30 Days. Payments will be given back through out the 30 days in a Cashiers check.”
Again, that letter, which the church still has in its files, was dated July 11, 2023.
The Missing Money
When The Advance got word of the missing money in November 2023, I called Raymundo Carrizales to find out if there wasn’t a way to resolve the issue. After all, I told him, the church spent 20 years raising the money, and now he had approximately half of the $45,450 in his pocket for the work left unfinished, so why wasn’t he paying back the money he promised to pay back in July (2023)?
In that phone conversation made two months ago, which was recorded, Carrizales told me, “We should have something to them by this week. We’re going to try and give it to them in some draws, like we had promised them.”
But, said I, you’re already four months behind your original promise you made in July.
“Yeah,” he said, “we’re just finishing some projects we had, trying to close on them, where the money is going to come from to reimburse them.”
So when do you think you’re going to pay them? I asked.
He said he had to pull over to the side of the road because he could barely hear me.
“What’s your name again?” he asked.
I told him. Spelled it out for him. Gregg with two G’s at the end. Mentioned The Advance News Journal and told him that I’ve run into stories like this in the past, so before I publish any story for print, I try and get both sides of the issue because there are always two sides to any dispute.
Carrizales told me that Covid had messed up a lot of his projects, so his company fell behind on certain projects, including Sinai Church. He admitted he got a draw from the church ($45,450), did some work on the fellowship hall, so he and his company weren’t too far behind on the church job.
“Yes,” I told him, “but the letter you wrote the church promising to pay back the $21,800 is dated July 2023, and now we’re into November (2023). It’s a small church. They scrimped for about 20 years to raise money for the new addition, held multiple fundraisers to raise this money, so for them, this is a big deal. But now you say you have payment plans in the works?”
He said, yes, “we’re trying to finish some work now because toward the end of the year, things get a little bit slower, and we’re trying to finish some projects so we can collect some of that money.”
Meaning, the $21,800 he promised to pay back the church in that July 2023 letter he wrote and signed.
“Yes,” he said, “we actually have something already drawn up so we can give them some (reimbursement money). We can’t pay them in full right away, but we can start giving them some payments.”
I told him that a church official told me they were willing to work with his company, A One, but what frustrates the church board is one promise after another, all of them broken.
He reiterated that he would pay back what he had promised to pay back in July, and we parted on pleasant terms.
A month later, I called the church treasurer — have you received any money yet?
“Nothing yet.” When I sent texts to Raymundo Carrizales with A One last month, the standard response I got in return was: “I’ll call you right back,” or, “We are working to pay but will call you.”
Then — silence. Or more importantly, no money ever paid back to Sinai Church.
This week, I sent Carrizales (A One) a text, which said I was going to publish a story about him and his business and how he didn’t keep his promise to pay back the money he owed.
He never responded to that text. I even told him that if he wanted, I’d include quotes from him to add to the story.
Nothing. At the bottom of his July 11, 2023 letter, he wrote the church board: “We are here for any additional questions, thank you.”
Here’s a question I have for Raymundo Carrizales and his construction company, A One, based in McAllen: When can the Sinai Church expect the $21,800 you promised to pay, or do they need to report this to the appropriate authorities?
Final Note: Sinai Church (Iglesia Sinai) has been a Christian presence in McAllen and the surrounding area for the past 45-plus years. If anyone would like to help its parishioners finish the fellowship hall mentioned in this column, you can go online (www. sinaicma.com) and donate any amount you deem fit.
When Raymundo Carrizales (A One Construction) cashed Sinai’s check for $45,450 in August of 2021, he listed that as the first draw (Phase 1 Construction) for a job that would total, he said, $85,000. That legal contract, executed 29 months ago, called for the construction of an addition that was to measure 1,070 square feet.
To validate the claims made by the church, The Advance News Journal has in its files, the August 2021 contract signed by Carrizales, a copy of the $45,450 check he cashed, and a copy of the letter dated July 11, 2023, in which he promised to pay back $21,800 within 30 days: “We had done some items along the project to help the church and we are still faithful to payback a portion of the money.”