A western Sydney man has been fined $67,000 after being found guilty of accepting multiple payments from consumers while unlicensed and then performing unfinished and defective residential work.
Jack Younes committed the crimes between May 2017 and March 2018, while operating under aliases including Charlie Khouri and Jason Tippett. Mr Younes was sentenced at Parramatta Local Court on 24 April 2019 and fined under the Home Building Act 1989 (NSW).
NSW Fair Trading Commissioner Rose Webb said five different people across western Sydney paid Mr Younes almost $200,000 in total to do work on their properties.
"Mr Younes has never held a contractor licence under the Home Building Act. Typically, after he accepted payment, Mr Younes' work was defective and required rectification or was never completed. He then failed to refund any funds when contacted by his victims," Ms Webb said.
"One man from Plumpton paid Mr Younes $87,000 in cash to perform a range of residential work, none of which was ever completed."
The court further ordered Mr Younes to pay a total of $118,000 in compensation to the five consumers.
Ms Webb said Mr Younes had previously been fined $75,000 for breaching NSW Home Building and Consumer legislation.
"In July 2018, Fair Trading issued a public warning urging consumers not to engage with Mr Younes for any work," Ms Webb said.
"Consumers should only deal with traders who hold an appropriate licence, and always verify licence details on the Fair Trading website.
"This outcome shows that Fair Trading will take enforcement action to ensure that unlicensed and unscrupulous traders are appropriately punished."
Mr Younes has a right to lodge an appeal.
