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Roofing company owner defends herself in letter to judge : “I am just as much a victim”

NOBLESVILLE, Ind. (WISH) — The co-owner of a roofing company accused of defrauding 40 Indiana customers of approximately $280,000 is blaming her business partner for the company’s failings.

In a six-page letter to a Hamilton County judge, Wanda VanWinkle, the co-owner of Green Frog Restoration, writes: “I am an honest person and never had any intentions to do anyone wrong. I, along with others, feel Jim Twaddle should be held accountable for what he has done to everyone!!”

“I am just as much a victim here as the customers Jim did this to,” wrote VanWinkle.

VanWinkle and James Twaddle are the co-owners of Green Frog Restoration, which up until last year held a satellite office at a Carmel office complex. It has since been abandoned.

VanWinkle’s letter to the judge comes in response to a December lawsuit filed by the Indiana Attorney General’s office, which alleges the company accepted insurance checks from Indiana customers but never completed the work totaling more than $280,000.

The lawsuit came after a months-long I-Team 8 investigation that uncovered dozens of Indiana customers who paid for home repairs, but never saw that work completed.

“I think they took my money and ran,” said customer Randy White.

James and Barbara Duke also handed over an insurance check worth $10,000 for repairs to their siding and roof.

Barbara Duke talked about the ordeal to I-Team 8.

“They came and got the check and we never saw them again.”

Our investigation also uncovered that Twaddle, a convicted felon serving out a five-year prison term, may have used money collected by Indiana customers to pay off restitution to scam victims in Ohio, according to sources and documents obtained by I-Team 8.

Twaddle’s Ohio attorney did not immediately return a phone call and voice message seeking comment.

VanWinkle, who has ignored repeated messages from I-Team 8 seeking comment, did not answer her cell phone Tuesday.

The Indiana Attorney General’s office has called the owners of Green Frog Restoration “serial home repair fraudsters.”

A judge’s order, filed Tuesday after VanWinkle submitted her letter last week, says it is “an ex-parte communication and has not been read.”

It also might not be admissible in her defense under Indiana state trial rules.

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