Sydney man jailed for impersonating licensed tradies
Sydney based fraudster Christopher-William Monahan has been sentenced to two years prison and fined $30,000 for impersonating licensed tradesmen, performing defective work and leaving Sydney homeowners thousands of dollars out-of-pocket.
Minister for Better Regulation, Kevin Anderson warned the public to be vigilant when it comes to allowing a tradesperson to conduct work in their homes, and said any fraudlent builders will be prosecuted.
“This prosecution is a good reminder to homeowners to be careful when it comes to working with tradies, especially someone who turns up unannounced offering cheap, quick, cash only work,” Mr Anderson said.
In NSW, a license is required for all specialist work such as electrical, plumbing and air conditioning, and for all other residential work valued at over $5,000.
“A lot of repair work is complex and requires a trained, qualified professional to do the job right.”
“We’ve made it easy to know whether someone is qualified or not by developing an online licence check tool, so be savvy, verify their licence, ask for references and request a written contract for any work over $5,000.”
“If you don’t know the tradie, you’re well within your rights to ask for photo ID.”
To protect consumers from fraud, NSW Fair Trading undertakes regular, proactive compliance checks. Since 2018 Fair Trading building investigators have conducted over 390 site inspections targeting unlicensed work.
Fair Trading will continue to undertake unannounced compliance blitzes across NSW communities over the rest of 2020.
Mr Monahan has the right to appeal the court’s decision.