California woman who promised to help rebuild 2018 Paradise fire survivors' homes for as little as $30,000 is on the run facing felony fraud charges after failing to complete their houses five years later

Tricia Cohen, pictured left with daughter Alexandria in an old social media photo, is yet to face justice for her alleged scams after going on the run while facing felony fraud charges

When glamorous divorcee Tricia Cohen arrived in Paradise offering to build homes for as little as $30,000, she was welcomed with open arms.

Less than six weeks before, the rural California city of 26,000 had been razed by the devastating Camp Fire – the November 2018 inferno sparked by malfunctioning power lines that left 85 dead and 12,000 homes burned to the ground.

Five years on and Cohen, now 62, is on the run after being charged with 16 felony counts of fraud and operating without a license in a disaster area and has a warrant out for her arrest.

But capturing the alleged fraudster is proving difficult with her victims describing her as being 'like a ghost', while Butte County District Attorney Michael Ramsay told DailyMail.com he believed she has fled California.

Now the victims of Cohen's scheme have told how they were left devastated after they first lost their homes in the wildfire and then their insurance payouts after being lured in by the mom-of-two's promises – reassured after being introduced to her by a Mormon mother and daughter from a well-to-do local family.

Residents told DailyMail.com they had even been promised a free TV as a sweetener and they handed over huge sums of money to her construction company Cubic Quarters LLC up front only to be met with a litany of excuses and homes that remain unfinished four years after the monster blaze.

Artist Steven Ferchaud, 64, lost everything but his grandfather's ring in the 2018 Camp Fire in Paradise, California, and ultimately was conned out of $218,000 for a house that was never built. He is pictured standing outside his home that was eventually completed by a different contractor 

Skeeter Schuette, 59, spent years living in a converted transit bus provided to her by Oakland-based charity after she giving Tricia Cohen $150,000 for a home the contractor failed to complete 

The suspected con woman approached local, Amy Morris, 47, after seeing her post in a Facebook group set up for survivors of the disaster. One of her alleged victims, Sharon O'Hara was the first to suspect fraudulent activity when little progress had been made on her home after 18 months 

The inferno was sparked by malfunctioning power lines that left 85 dead and 12,000 homes burned to the ground. The town's population dropped to 2,000 immediately after the fire

As a result, one woman spent years living in a converted transit bus, while others slept at friends' houses or were forced to fork out cash they didn't have to rent properties in the nearby cities of Chico and Oroville.

Although all of Cohen's victims' homes were eventually completed, getting them meant spending even more money paying other contractors to complete the job – leaving them hundreds of thousands of dollars out of pocket.

Among them is artist Steven Ferchaud, 64, who lost everything but his grandfather's ring in the Camp Fire and paid Cohen $218,000 for a house that was never built.

He has not been repaid and says he had to spend another $355,000 – his life savings – to get his home completed after Cohen disappeared.

'This woman's been doing it for a long time – it's just not us,' he claimed. 'And the chances are she's going to do it again.

'It's her way of how she makes money so I'd like her to be wearing orange, to be put in prison for this, and held accountable.'

Paradise now has 10,000 residents and is the fastest growing city in California for the second year running. The town's population had dropped to 2,000 immediately after the fire. 

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The rural California city of 26,000 was razed by the devastating Camp Fire in November 2018, and signs of the devastating inferno's wake are still evident around the town

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A strip of local businesses, including Paradise Bikes, is pictured in the aftermath of the fire and present day

Paradise now has 10,000 residents and is the fastest growing city in California for the second year running

Ferchaud is one of eight Camp Fire survivors to be taken in by Cohen's promises, although more still lost money to a different contractor named Aurora Ridge Homes LLC which was shut down and the owners prosecuted last year.

Other Paradise residents are plaintiffs in a civil suit for damages filed in Butte County last month against prefab home manufacturer CMH Manufacturing West Inc who, they claim, provided them with shoddily built homes that leak and are filled with mold.

But of all the shady contractors who flooded into Paradise after the fire, only the elusive Cohen is yet to face justice. Originally from Washington, the 62-year-old has lived all over the country, including in Florida and Nevada.

With her now ex-husband Michael and daughters Alexandria and Nicole in tow, she has left a trail of financial devastation across the country dating back to 1993, DailyMail.com can reveal. 

In 2006, she was ordered to repay more than $125,000 to her own brothers, William and Jamie Brakken, while a federal tax lien totaling more than $190,000 has followed her across the country – repeatedly filed against her in three states.

More telling is a 2006 case filed against Cohen and her husband in Seattle where a woman named Susan Fascitelli sued after lending the pair $159,000 and never being repaid.

Antiques seller, Skeeter Schuette said the five years of stress and uncertainty in a temporary living situation took a toll on her health. She is pictured outside her new home 

Schuette spents years living in a converted bus from charity, Badrap who, as the years wore on, provided her with a second bus converted to hold a makeshift shower

Schuette described the converted buses as 'awesome', but noted they were just a temporary fix to a burdensome situation 

In her declaration, Fascitelli said Cohen, who at the time was fronting a company called Cohen Marketing International and was known as 'Patty,' duped her out of the cash by persuading her to invest it in the business via a series of loans in summer 2005.

She said she had felt confident about loaning the money because she was friends with Cohen's sister Bonnie and believed she would receive interest on the money.

Cohen told her the company supplied products to hotels and cruise ships and had contacts in China that allowed them to buy items such as pillows cheaply before selling them on at a mark-up.

In one email included in the case file, Cohen even boasted of having a contract to supply towels to the luxurious Wynn Las Vegas hotel, telling Fascitelli that one installment of $50,000 had been applied to that account.

But it all turned out to be a mirage. Fascitelli could not get her money despite winning her case and was forced to apply for a garnishment in a bid to get her money back.

As in the Seattle case where she used her own sister to bring in Fascitelli, Cohen found a way into Paradise through a trusted local.

Amy Morris, 47, a Mormon dental technician who now lives in Fresno, California, grew up in Paradise – the daughter of the town's respected dentist Dr. Brent Mackay.

In an interview with DailyMail.com, she said she rushed to Paradise in the aftermath of the fire desperate to help and was approached by Cohen after posting in a Facebook group set up for survivors of the disaster.

Sharon O'Hara paid Cohen $195,000 to build her a home but 18 months after signing up, she fired her in August 2021

O'Hara spent months begging for her money back to no avail. She ultimately had to pay an extra $100,000 to another contractor to complete the job

Cubic Quarters was also recently re-registered – under Tricia Cohen's name – to a nondescript office building on the outskirts of Sacramento. When DailyMail.com visited last week, workers were unaware of any company of that name based out of the property and there was no sign of Cohen

Morris says she was charmed by Cohen, believed her to be a God-fearing woman who regularly broke off from conversation to pray and was even introduced to her two daughters.

She was also impressed with Cohen's business, Cubic Quarters LLC, which came complete with a glossy website, low prices, and assurances that included sourcing quality products from China at affordable prices.

Believing Cohen to be legitimate and wanting to help, she posted a message advertising Cubic Quarters to a Facebook group named Camp Fire – Information & Updates (Paradise, CA) on January 6, 2019 that said Cohen could build houses for as little as $30,000.

When a flood of enquiries came in, she organized a party for Cubic Quarters at her mother Jeannine Mackay's house so Cohen could meet potential clients.

Among those to sign up were antiques seller Skeeter Schuette, 59, artist Ferchaud, and waitress Sharon O'Hara, 60.

Schuette, at the time recently divorced, had $150,000 in her bank account – her half of the insurance payout for her burned out home.

Cohen offered to build her a new house for $152,000 and Schuette paid a deposit of $2,500 on the spot, expecting to be in her home by Christmas 2019.

As the months wore on, little construction took place while Cohen demanded more and more money – for steel, for fittings and other construction items – usually via Amy Morris who was by then working as Cubic Quarter's unpaid saleswoman, devoting her weekends and time off to the task.

O'Hara was the first to smell a rat. 

She paid Cohen $195,000 to build her a home but 18 months after signing up, she fired her in August 2021.

Noting the glacial progress being made, she had begun complaining repeatedly – first to Morris and then to Cohen herself after Morris exited Cubic Quarters in January 2021.

She describes spending months begging both women to complete her home and then months more begging them to refund her money.

Her payment was never returned, she said, and in the end, O'Hara had to pay an extra $100,000 to another contractor to complete the job.

Schuette, meanwhile, was living in a converted bus provided to her by Oakland-based charity Badrap who, as the years wore on, provided her with a second bus converted to hold a makeshift shower.

She says she was told by Cohen not to talk to O'Hara, with both Morris and the alleged fraudster telling her she was a troublemaker. Ferchaud said he was told the same.

Before Morris vanished in January 2021, Schuette told of an incident where she was taken to a storage unit to see the items that had been purchased for her home – and was left aghast when she realized the 'custom fittings' she had been promised included a sink from Costco and various Amazon returns.

Schuette said: 'I lost five years of my life just living in limbo in a temporary situation. I mean, the buses were awesome, but they were temporary, and it stretched into a year, two years, three years, four years.

Butte County District Attorney Michael Ramsay confirmed to DailyMail.com that a warrant has been issued for Cohen for multiple counts of fraud

DailyMail.com has learned Cohen has left a trail of financial devastation across the country dating back to 1993. In 2005 Cohen and her husband Michael were sued by a Seattle woman named Susan Fascitelli after lending the pair $159,000 and never being repaid

Fascitelli was never repaid and, despite winning her case, was forced to apply for a garnishment in a bid to recover her money

'I am disabled. My health is deteriorating. That's five years that I'm not getting back and five years of stress, which aged me.'

Meanwhile, Morris says she was being put under increasing pressure by Cohen to find new clients for Cubic Quarters even as complaints mounted from existing customers.

O'Hara, Schuette, and Ferchaud say they have not heard from Amy Morris since January 2021 while Cohen cut off all contact after they cut ties with Cubic Quarters, ignoring their increasingly desperate emails.

When they complained to the California Contractors State License Board, they learned Cohen did not have a contractor's license, which is legally required to do construction work, while Cubic Quarters' business address proved to be a UPS access point in Dana Point, 500 miles to the south.

To add insult to injury, all three had liens placed on their homes by Lamberto 'Beto' Uriostegui, the owner of Innovative Builders – a licensed contractor who had been hired by Cohen to pour their concrete foundations.

Cohen hadn't paid him either, leaving him hundreds of thousands of dollars out of pocket. 

According to O'Hara, the contractor demanded $3,000 from her but she chose to pay local lawyer Jennifer Ellingson $1,000 to have the lien removed.

She said: 'I'd already paid for it. I paid Tricia for it. I wasn't going to pay twice.'

Uriostegui is now one of the victims listed on the criminal complaint obtained by DailyMail.com, along with O'Hara, Schuette, and Ferchaud.

Filed in July 22 following an investigation by the Paradise Police Department, the warrant remains open although many of Cohen's victims say they were unaware that charges had been filed and said they had to pursue DA Ramsay to get him to take their complaint seriously.

Ramsay disputes that, telling DailyMail.com that his office has been in contact with them and that their complaints about Cohen were heard. 

He added: 'The investigation is complete, and a warrant has been issued for Cohen for multiple counts of fraud.

'We are actively working to bring her into custody, including working with several other law enforcement agencies. We know she is not in California and has not been for many years.'

DA Ramsay added: 'We have tracked Cohen to several locations; however, some local jurisdictions were not willing to assist, allowing Cohen to remain free.

'We are currently working on her latest location and methods to arrest and extradite her.'

Local woman Colleen Corners has helped support Cohen's victims and encouraged them to take their case to the FBI

One possible location could be Washington State, according to Colleen Corners, a local woman who has helped support Cohen's victims and encouraged them to take their case to the FBI.

Cubic Quarters was also recently re-registered – under Tricia Cohen's name – to a nondescript office building on the outskirts of Sacramento.

When DailyMail.com visited last week, workers were unaware of any company of that name based out of the property and there was no sign of Cohen.

While Cohen appears to have gotten away – for now – others are still dealing with the repercussions.

Among them is Amy Morris who, in an extraordinary twist, told DailyMail.com that the reason she disappeared was because Cohen ordered her to sign a piece of paper that banned her from talking to anyone about her work with Cubic Quarters – and from further communication with Cohen herself.

She told DailyMail.com: 'I had no idea about these [criminal] charges. I haven't talked to anyone about this because I wanted to do what Tricia said – I thought I would have legal problems if I did.'

Morris also revealed that she was paid nothing except for the odd bit of gas money for her work and, from time to time, dipped into her own pocket to pay for supplies for Cubic Quarters' clients.

Despite being bombarded with complaints and then told not to talk, she still believed Cohen was legitimate until she was told of the 16 felony charges by DailyMail.com.

'I'm very sorry that I ever got involved with the company at all,' she said. 'And I wish I had got involved with something different.

'I wish I'd helped a different company – a company that was able to help people. All I wanted to do was get involved with something to help people and to serve people. I'm very sorry.'

Ferchaud, Schuette, and O'Hara all say Cohen has left them mistrustful of other people as well as thousands of dollars out of pocket – and all want to see her face justice.

'She takes advantage of people and she needs to be stopped,' O'Hara said. 'I'd love to see her in a jail cell and poke her with a stick.'

Ferchaud added: 'It was very disheartening because sometimes you do forget that there are people like that in this world and it's sad that there is.

'But as much as it was devastating, the good people far outweigh people like that.'

DailyMail.com's attempts to contact Coen were unsuccessful.