HOUSTON – It’s been months since a Houston-area used car lot was open, but ex-employees say they’re still owed paychecks.
Koncept Motor Cars is closed. The gate to the parking lot is padlocked shut. The company’s social media has been dormant, with the last post in August.
Meanwhile, former workers here say the car lot off Highway 6 near Mission Bend still owes them money for the hours they worked.
“I see a lot of people getting hurt from the company, a lot of people,” said Elijah Portland, who used to be a mechanic at the dealership.
He’s not the only one either.
“He owes other employees’ money as well,” said Jacqueline Knight-Colunga, a former service advisor.
They’re just two of the ex-employees who reached out to KPRC 2 with the same complaint - Koncept Motor Cars didn’t fully pay them.
They were encouraged to speak up after watching our recent investigation into Strawberry Road Auto Sales in Pasadena.
The Pasadena used car lot is the owner and operator of Koncept Motor Cars, according to state records obtained by KPRC 2.
Gage Goulding: “How much money are you missing?”
Jacqueline Knight-Colunga: “With the with the salary check, $1,192.92.”
Elijah Portland: " It was an estimated, like, maybe a month’s worth of missing pay.”
The other former workers have the same story, but they’re too scared to talk on camera out of fear of impacts on their current job or retaliation from the used car lot’s manager, David Estrada, who also manages the Pasadena used car lot.
Estrada was arrested and charged with assaulting KPRC 2 Reporter Gage Goulding and Photojournalist Oscar Chavez when they approached him during an investigation into Strawberry Road Auto Sales a few weeks ago.
“He’s a thief and a liar and he would do anything for a dollar,” Knight-Colunga said. “I think he’d murder his own grandmother for $5.”
Now here’s the thing, it’s hard for any of the employees to prove that they’ve been shorted money. They’re locked out of their timecard system, meaning the owner is the only one with the key to the truth.
“There’s no way for me to get viable proof as to the money that I was missing,” Portland said.
We tried calling the owner, Carlos Morales, but he hung up on us as soon as he answered.
Gage Goulding: “If Mr. Morales is watching this story right now and you could look him square in the eyes, what would you say to him?”
Jacqueline Knight-Colunga: “I just tell him, just be above board.”
Gage Goulding: “Do you have any faith that you ever see that month’s worth of pay, or is that gone?”
Elijah Portland: “Honestly, I don’t have any faith in it.”
KPRC 2 has tried to contact Carlos Morales for a follow-up, but he did not answer our calls.
