KRGV.com

PHARR - A three-way tug of war is under way between two companies and the city of Pharr.

The owners of I.O.C. Construction say a man sold them thousands of dollars worth of equipment, then sold the exact same items to the city. Now Oscar Cuellar says he's out $30,000.

"He stopped answering our calls about two or three months ago," said Cuellar, referring to Cris Equipment owner Steve Mahan.

Cuellar showed CHANNEL 5 NEWS a bill of sale for various items his company bought from Cris Equipment last March. The Cris Equipment lot on East Ferguson is vacant now. Cuellar says he and his employees picked up some of the equipment they paid for, but before they could get it all, Mahan sold everything to the city of Pharr.

"It's a significant impact, because he asked for the money up front and we paid him up front. Now we've had to hire an attorney and get representation. And it was just something, if he had kept his word and we could have picked it up. And he's a Christian man and he could have just kept his word," said Cuellar.

"I don't have nothing to do with that," said Mahan, when reached by phone last week.

The City of Pharr says they bought the property and everything on it fair and square from Mahan. Assistant City Manager David Garza says at the time they made the deal, Mahan did not tell them anything about any pre-existing customers. Garza said he thought the situation would be resolved between Mahan and the Cuellars in the next couple of weeks. When told about Mahan's comment to CHANNEL 5 NEWS, Garza said he would have to check with the city's attorney.