INDIANAPOLIS— The Indiana Attorney General’s Office has won a $352,225 judgment against a former Whiteland hot rod shop first exposed by WRTV Investigates.
WRTV told you in 2022 about mounting complaints against JB Bugs Trick Truck N Rod.
WATCH | Johnson Co. Sheriff's Investigating mounting complaints against Whiteland hot rod restoration shop
Customers say they paid the business, but allege the shop did not do the work promised.
Diane Kuhn of Fairland is one of 20 customers listed in the $352,225 judgment against JB Bugs Trick Truck N Rod and its operators John Bragg and Melanie Goode.
The state sued the hot rod shop in 2023 over its “deceptive’ business practices.
The business owes Diane Kuhn $10,500 in restitution, according to the judgment, but Kuhn isn’t holding her breath.\
“I really don’t think we will see the money back,” said Kuhn. “I’m happy that they finally got the judgment. But I don’t think we will ever see any of the money, unfortunately.”
We first introduced you to Kuhn in 2022 after she said she paid JB Bugs Trick Truck N Rod to restore her 1971 Volkswagen Super Beetle, but they never finished the job.
Customers say John Bragg used a fake name, JB Goode, and claimed to be the owner of the business, but it was actually his significant other, Melanie Goode, who owned the hot rod shop.
Following our WRTV Investigation, Johnson County prosecutors filed criminal theft and fraud charges against Bragg in October 2022.
After a five month manhunt, Bragg was arrested in March 2023 in North Carolina.
Bragg has not returned to Indiana to face charges out of Johnson County.
He’s currently in Tennessee awaiting sentencing after he pleaded guilty to Wire Fraud for defrauding customers.
He will be sentenced in federal court in Tennessee on May 15.
As for the pending fraud and theft charges in Johnson County, prosecutor Lance Hamner said they are waiting on the federal case to resolve.
“Yes, we are still prosecuting him,” said Hamner in an email to WRTV.
The Indiana Attorney General’s Office says it will work to get customers their money back.
“While our Office has worked hard to obtain a judgment from the court in this case, the conversion of that judgment to money can be a challenge with distressed companies and individuals,” said Josh Defonce, media director at the Indiana Attorney General’s Office, in an email to WRTV. “However, the OAG has an Asset Recovery and Bankruptcy Section who continues that work and looks to find assets that satisfy these outstanding judgments in order to make Hoosier consumers as whole as possible.”
Diane Kuhn wants to see Bragg behind bars.
“I’d like him to go to jail forever,” said Kuhn. “He needs to be stopped. No more victims!”
WRTV Investigates found at the time of the alleged fraud and theft in Johnson County, Bragg was on probation for organized fraud in Walton County, Florida.
He defrauded his Florida victim of more than $40,000 after telling her he was an attorney retiring due to brain cancer, according to the arrest warrant affidavit.
WRTV Investigates checked Indiana court records and found John Bragg was also convicted of theft in Johnson County in 2007, and in 2009, convicted of fraud and bigamy in Hancock County.
Melanie Goode has not been criminally charged in connection with JB Bugs Trick Truck N Rod’s business practices.
We reached out to Bragg’s attorney in Tennessee and we are still waiting to hear back.
WRTV also tried reaching Melanie Goode for comment, but we have not heard back.
