CONSUMER & BUSINESS ADVICE
Media Releases
12 February 2019

An itinerant tradesman has been charged with numerous breaches of the Australian Consumer Law following an investigation undertaken by Consumer and Business Services.

The Commissioner for Consumer Affairs alleges the 61-year old used multiple business names and made false claims about the need for building works, obtaining nearly $120,000 in payment for works that were never completed or services that were not required.

Commissioner for Consumer Affairs Dini Soulio said the man, who is in Australia illegally after overstaying his tourist visa, was the basis of multiple consumer complaints around metropolitan Adelaide in late 2018.

He is alleged to have advertised for building work services through distributing flyers in Adelaide suburbs under various business names, making false and misleading statements about his building credentials and taking payments from clients without supplying a service.

The Commissioner for Consumer Affairs alleges the tradesman would attend a consumer’s home or business to provide a quote for building work, before requesting a 50% deposit. In some instances, the man allegedly made claims that further equipment or services (such as scaffolding) were required. It is also alleged the man made false claims about the need for asbestos removal and the cost of its disposal through a waste processing facility.

The man faced the Adelaide Magistrates Court this week, charged with 10 counts of breaching the Australian Consumer Law and Building Work Contractors Act. The case was adjourned to 14 March, 2019.