A Denver pastor who promised an elderly family a new duplex is now under court orders to pay them back more than $300,000 after the project fizzled out and left the couple buried in debt well into their 70s and 80s.
Denver District Court Judge Jay Grant has ordered Pastor Tilo Lopez to repay $311,191.64 to Ventura and Elsie Lara. The Laras say they poured tens of thousands of dollars into the project up front and took out a $520,000 loan to finance a duplex that was never built. Relatives say the financial hit has forced the couple, now 77 and 81, to keep working instead of retiring.
The restitution ruling followed a hearing that pulled back the curtain on how the money was spent, including what the judge called staggering markups on demolition and abatement. Testimony showed Lopez hired a contractor for roughly $14,000 while the Laras were billed about $90,000 for the demolition, and a subcontractor was paid about $30,000 for asbestos abatement while the family was billed roughly $150,000. Judge Grant noted the roughly 542% markup as a key part of the calculation that led to the $311,191.64 restitution figure, as reported by CBS Colorado…