Man scammed, left to fight case

A man who was allegedly scammed out of $8000 by a rogue builder says he feels ‘‘completely unassisted’’ in his bid to get justice.

South Aucklander Kumar Laxman hired Sanjay Kumar, who used the business name SSK Renovation and Home Services, to do tiling and painting work in Laxman’s kitchen.

‘‘I started to realise he wasn’t doing the job. He would come for one hour a day, or not at all, there was no carpet, no kitchen and a pile of rubbish thrown outside,’’ Laxman said. ‘‘He stopped responding to my texts and calls.’’

Laxman took the matter to the Disputes Tribunal and Kumar was ordered to pay Laxman $5000.

However, months later, Laxman is yet to see any of his money returned.

‘‘He told me he would pay me back in weekly instalments of $50 but he hasn’t. The address the courts have for him also turned up to be unoccupied.’’

Laxman sent a letter of complaint to police about the situation but was told it was a ‘‘civil matter’’ rather than a criminal one.

Detective Satinder Singh, who had been in contact with Laxman, also said what happened between the pair was a civil matter, so there wasn’t much he could do.

‘‘I do understand there’s been a struggle with the courts into trying to find where Sanjay Kumar had been living,’’ Singh said.

‘‘He will have to resolve the issue himself.’’

Laxman said it was ‘‘ridiculous’’ such incidents were classified as civil disputes.

Sanjay Kumar has allegedly left multiple families across south Auckland in the lurch after taking their money and not completing promised building and painting work.

When Kumar was approached by Stuff, he said the homeowners’ claims were false and everyone was ‘‘lying’’. He refused to answer any further questions.

A spokeswoman from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment said for restricted building work, registered or licensed tradespeople should always be hired.

You can check that the person you are considering hiring for the work is registered as a Licensed Building Practitioner by checking the register.

‘‘For non-restricted building work, you should do some research into the person you are considering hiring for the work,’’ she said. ‘‘Ask for references from other clients, Google the person, and check out other work that they have done prior to taking them on.’’

An Auckland company has avoided a $405,000 fine for failing to ensure the safety of a worker who was crushed when felling a tree, because it is in liquidation.

Central Siteworks Ltd was sentenced in the Waitakere District Court for failing to ensure the safety of a worker who was injured when felling trees at its Waitakere site in 2017.

The man was cutting down a tree when it fell on him, causing significant chest injuries.

An investigation by Worksafe found the worker did not have any forestry or arboriculture qualifications and none of the crew could demonstrate they had received any training. The crew had experience in small-scale tree removal but had not undertaken forestry work.

Worksafe’s acting chief inspector investigations Danielle Henry said it was up to the hiring contractor to ensure workers were capable of the job at hand.