A San Antonio rental facility built for EquipmentShare’s construction-equipment business is at the center of a lawsuit alleging that contractors and a former project manager diverted much of the $3.4 million paid for the work. EquipmentShare says the building was left with a leaking roof and builder-grade finishes. The company’s claims against former project manager Joseph Broussard and others also involve projects in Gonzales and Alice.
The Missouri-based, publicly traded equipment-rental company filed a federal racketeering lawsuit against Broussard and several others on November 2 in U.S. District Court in San Antonio, according to the San Antonio Express-News. The suit alleges Broussard breached his fiduciary duties and employment agreement, and that subcontractors SJS Industrial LLC and CDC Services Unlimited LLC knowingly participated in that alleged breach.
How the San Antonio Contract Allegedly Got Rigged
According to europesays.com, EquipmentShare says it chose Hitchcock-based AEL Constructors Inc. for the San Antonio facility on Broussard’s recommendation, with AEL planning to subcontract the work to SJS Industrial. The lawsuit alleges Broussard, AEL and others inflated the project’s cost and diverted most of the $3.4 million paid, while leaving the facility materially unfinished.
The report says EquipmentShare alleged that the roof leaked and builder-grade finishes were installed instead of the custom finishes it says it paid for. In an October 30 letter, Broussard’s attorney, Paul Brodersen of Corpus Christi, presented a competing account, claiming AEL was owed roughly $700,000 on the San Antonio project. Brodersen did not respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit, and EquipmentShare did not respond to an email sent to its media relations office.
What San Antonio Requires Before a Facility Opens
For a new building or interior finish-out, San Antonio issues a Certificate of Occupancy after required inspections and associated permits are completed and outstanding fees are paid, according to the City of San Antonio Development Services Department.
A Six-Figure Gap in the Gonzales Project
The complaint also concerns a Gonzales facility intended for sales and operations staff, equipment repair and fleet storage. EquipmentShare says it expected the work to cost $250,000, but alleges Broussard directed the contract to SJS Industrial, led by his longtime friend Shawn Johnson. SJS lists an address in Aransas Pass.
EquipmentShare says it paid SJS $650,700 for the Gonzales work. SJS then subcontracted it to Broussard’s company, CDC Services Unlimited LLC, which hired Kardosz Inc. to perform the job and paid Kardosz $207,167. The complaint says the defendants did not account for the $443,533 difference between EquipmentShare’s payment and the amount Kardosz received. Kardosz is not named as a defendant. Brodersen’s October 30 letter, by contrast, claimed SJS was owed $300,000 on the Gonzales project.
Sham Bids Allegedly Arranged for a Third Project
For an Alice renovation and site-improvement project, the lawsuit alleges Broussard directed Robert “Chuck” Glass, identified in the complaint as an AEL Constructors project manager, to arrange bids from two businesses Glass owned: Pecan Consulting and Nueces Consulting. The complaint says Broussard wanted the bids to make it appear that multiple companies were competing, while telling Glass the project had to go to Pecan or Nueces and no other bidder would do.
EquipmentShare says it discovered the alleged scheme only after Broussard's employment ended, when Kardosz reported that it had actually done the work on the Gonzales project. The company had employed Broussard for a little more than two years before terminating him for “poor performance” in July. EquipmentShare says Broussard failed to ensure the projects he oversaw were completed or progressing as scheduled.
Missing Containers and Wiped Laptops
Beyond the alleged financial maneuvering, EquipmentShare claims Broussard and his company moved at least two of its storage containers from the Gonzales site without permission. The company says it later found one of the containers on an Aransas Pass property owned by a company whose principals include Broussard.
EquipmentShare also alleges Broussard wiped data from two laptop operating systems in an attempt to conceal his scheme, and that he returned three electronic devices only after the company filed a police report. The complaint does not specify how much EquipmentShare is seeking in damages, and the company says the full scope of Broussard's alleged misconduct remains unknown.
A Disputed Age-Discrimination Claim
The dispute between Broussard and EquipmentShare predates the lawsuit itself. Brodersen's October 30 letter alleged Broussard was a victim of age discrimination and demanded $350,000 to settle his employment claims — a demand EquipmentShare rejected before filing its own racketeering suit days later.
Several of the people and companies named did not respond to requests for comment from the Express-News, including Brodersen and Shawn Johnson of SJS. Allan Legge could not be reached. SJS Industrial, AEL Constructors and Robert “Chuck” Glass are each named as defendants, alongside Broussard, in a case that still leaves unanswered how much of EquipmentShare's money actually went into the ground in San Antonio, Gonzales and Alice.
