Houston food influencer Adrian Verde says what started as a friendly hang at a Heights bar turned into a financial nightmare, leaving him out roughly $45,000 and still waiting to see a dime of it back despite a civil court win.
Verde says he took the dispute to court, secured a civil judgment, then went public on Instagram after collection efforts stalled. Once he aired it all out on his feed, he says messages poured in from other Houstonians who claim they went through similar situations.
According to the Houston Chronicle, Verde shared the story Monday evening on his @thehoustonfoodie account, saying the relationship began after he met the man at Best Regards in the Heights. The outlet reports Verde has roughly 151,000 followers and that dozens of people messaged him after he went public.
Judge Entered A Default Judgment
Verde took the dispute to civil court in January. When the defendant did not respond, a judge entered a default judgment that could require repayment of up to $170,000. The award includes economic and exemplary damages along with attorney fees and interest, according to KPRC Click2Houston.
How Verde Says The Scheme Worked
In a complaint filed in January, Verde alleges the man repeatedly asked him to cover flights, hotels and other bills while claiming his bank account was “locked” or restricted. Credits that at first looked like repayments were later reversed, and a check was ultimately shown to have been drawn on a closed account, according to the Houston Chronicle.
The lawsuit says those reversals left Verde with roughly $43,000 to $45,000 in chargebacks and that his credit score took a hit along the way. Verde told the paper, “I was like, he’s my friend,” describing how that trust slowly morphed into tens of thousands of dollars in losses.
Collection Efforts, Police Report And Next Steps
Despite the judgment, Verde says neither the defendant nor the defendant’s father, who was later added to an amended petition, has paid anything so far. His attorneys are working to locate assets that could be levied, KPRC Click2Houston reports.
The station also reports that Verde filed a police report in October and that process servers were unable to reach the defendant at multiple addresses listed in court filings.
Verde says he took the story public to warn the community and to encourage anyone with information to come forward. For now, his case is a reminder that a courtroom victory and a bank account balance are not always on speaking terms.
