Investigators say fake employment documents helped secure a downtown apartment costing more than $6,200 a month.
HOUSTON, TX — A Houston couple has been arrested on organized criminal activity charges after investigators alleged they used false employment documents and other fraudulent records to obtain expensive rental properties, including a downtown apartment costing more than $6,200 a month.
Felipe Andujar and his wife, Emily Galvez, were arrested this week as part of an investigation into what authorities describe as a broader rental scheme involving fake pay stubs, false identities and improperly obtained leases. Police allege the couple initially used fraudulent documents to qualify for properties and that Andujar later helped connect other prospective tenants with properties tied to the alleged operation. The accusations remain allegations, and the criminal charges do not establish guilt.
Investigators said Galvez began renting an apartment at Elev8 in downtown Houston in September 2025. Before the lease was approved, authorities allege Andujar arranged to pay another man $1,500 to create documentation showing Galvez had received an employment offer. According to investigators, the resulting offer letter claimed Galvez would earn $21,000 a month, an income level that could support the apartment’s monthly rent.
Police said the Texas Workforce Commission could not find a record of the company that purportedly made the employment offer. Investigators also obtained text messages that they say document discussions about creating enough reported income to qualify for the property. In one message cited by authorities, a man asked Andujar what monthly rent he wanted to stay under so that enough income could be listed for approval. Authorities said that man had not been charged in connection with the case at the time of the report.
The investigation into Andujar and Galvez grew out of a separate inquiry involving Rosemary Tucker, who had previously been accused of participating in a rental fraud operation. Houston police began looking more closely at the couple after Tucker’s arrest and said investigators found messages between Tucker and Andujar on her phone. Police allege Tucker helped clients obtain leases using false financial records or identities.
Investigators said Andujar and Galvez had sought Tucker’s help because they were concerned about whether they would qualify for housing. Authorities said Andujar had a previous drug-possession conviction and Galvez lacked a credit history. Police allege the couple used Tucker’s services to rent two properties in 2023 and 2024, with leases placed in Galvez’s name and supported by fraudulent pay records.
Authorities further allege that Andujar’s role later expanded. Investigators said he began acting as a broker, locating people who could sublet properties that Tucker had allegedly obtained through false identities. The allegations place the couple within a larger investigation into properties leased through deceptive applications and then rented to other occupants. Separate reporting on Tucker’s case said investigators had accused her of leasing multiple properties before re-renting them and collecting payments from tenants.
The downtown apartment also became the subject of a police search months before the couple’s latest arrests. Authorities said officers executing a search warrant at the unit in July found 13 firearms, about $51,000 in cash and drugs. Officials have not publicly established in the reporting reviewed for this story how each of those items relates to the organized criminal activity charges stemming from the alleged rental scheme, and their discovery does not by itself establish the couple’s guilt on the current charges.
Public court-filing information lists Andujar and Galvez as charged with engaging in organized criminal activity in Harris County. Authorities have not publicly released a final determination in the case, and no conviction has been reported. The investigation into the alleged rental operation and the people connected to it remains subject to the criminal court process.
Author note: Last updated October 24, 2026.