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15-10-11, 17:44
From AsiaOne/Newpaper
Contractor disappears after pocketing $145,000
By Najib Siddik and Alvin Lim
He was about to leave home for the office on Saturday when his daughter-in-law handed him a copy of The New Paper.
In it was a report about a nightmare contractor which made Page 1 of The New Paper.
Intrigued, businessman Albert Chew, 75, read on.
He stared hard at the picture of a house in shambles, its interiors hacked and rubble left all over the place.
He scrutinised the article to learn more about the plight of Mr Vincent Koh Keng Hin, 38, who had paid an $85,000 down payment to his contractor who became uncontactable since August.
The contractor had abandoned the renovation work midway at the insurance agent's inter-terrace house at Pasir Ris Heights.
It sounded too much like what happened to Mr Chew himself, who began to suspect that he had hired the same contractor.
"Call it a victim's instinct. When I read Vincent's story, I felt very frustrated because my family was cheated by this unscrupulous contractor," said Mr Chew.
Apart from Mr Chew, The New Paper understands that other clients and subcontractors who provided goods and services to the contractor also lost money.
The New Paper visited Mr Chew's two-storey inter-terrace house at Happy Avenue East off Macpherson on Tuesday. His house looked to be far from complete.
Mr Chew said he has paid about $145,000 to the contractor in progressive payment.
He was quoted $237,000 for renovation work on the house's structure,
attic floor and six rooms.
Mr Chew and his three adult children have three houses - the one at Happy Avenue East and another two in Sennett Estate. All three are inter-terrace homes.
Mr Chew bought his property at Happy Avenue East in 2007 at $800,000. Renovations began in October 2009.
Said the business owner, who earns about $6,500 monthly: "I was careful with my payment and did not pay him a lump sum.
"But no matter how prudent I was, he still managed to get away with delivering substandard work."
Mr Chew's daughter-in-law, Madam Anna Lim, 40, a manager in his company, said that after a payment of $12,000 was made, work progress slowed down before the contractor soon became uncontactable.
She said: "Until now, we can't find him, his manager or any of his contact persons since we last made payment of about $12,000 in April this year."
Mr Chew's house now has an unsafe structure.
An engineer whom the contractor had engaged to render services said the beams and pillars which the contractor left incomplete, are "not strong enough".
Mr Chew said: "As such, I have to engage another contractor to reconstruct the house. This would mean more money out of my pocket."
Mr Chew also said that in November last year, the contractor performed works on the attic floor without properly ensuring the cement's thickness.
He was told by the same engineer that the floor was "too thin", causing water seepage from rainfall and mouldy pillars.
Mr Chew first met the contractor in September 2009 when the latter was working on a house in Sennett Estate. Impressed with the house that the contractor was building, he asked for his name card and contacted him later.
Mr Chew, who made a police report, said: "We met again, and I was impressed by the drawings and pictures in his portfolio.
"It also helped that he's a very sweet-talker. He's very obliging and people-oriented."
Another client of the contractor, who declined to be named, had a similar story when The New Paper contacted him.
Impressed at first
Like Mr Koh and Mr Chew, the man was also impressed by the contractor at first.
The man, who declined to say how much money he lost to the contractor, claimed that the contractor "has a system in place".
He also understands from his own sources that there are at least "17 or more clients who were cheated".
The client said: "He would advertise in the newspapers to attract clients and quote offers much lower than other contractors in the market.
"Then he'll meet the client and drive them around in his BMW 6 Series to boost their confidence level."
He added that the contractor will take his client to see some of his completed projects.
"When the deal is finalised, he'll give many reasons to get more money from his client, usually to purchase building materials which cost over $100,000.
"Once money is collected, he'll hack and destroy the house, ignore all calls and slowly disappear," he said.
But that is not all.
The man believes that the contractor has his own "cost-cutting" strategies.
He alleged: "The contractor will throw other victims' house debris into his latest victim's hacked house to avoid paying the disposal fee."
The man, who is concerned that the contractor may strike again, said: "The money I lost can never be recovered, but we hope the authorities can do something to help us. We want some closure."
Checks with legal portal LawNet revealed that four companies had issued writs of summons against the same contractor over the last two years.
An employee from one of the companies told TNP that the contractor had owed them about $8,000.
She said: "We tried going down to their premises, but there was nothing left to claim."
"From what we understand, another company had gone down to the premises before us, and they also left empty-handed," added the employee.
A sub-contractor told TNP it had worked with the contractor on several projects for more than a year until he became uncontactable. The sub-contractor said he's "owed about $100,000".
The sub-contractor added that his company was still determining the final amount before deciding their next course of action. He declined to say more.
Police confirmed that Mr Chew made a police report and they are investigating.
[email protected]
This article was first published in The New Paper (http://www.tnp.sg/).
Contractor disappears after pocketing $145,000
By Najib Siddik and Alvin Lim
He was about to leave home for the office on Saturday when his daughter-in-law handed him a copy of The New Paper.
In it was a report about a nightmare contractor which made Page 1 of The New Paper.
Intrigued, businessman Albert Chew, 75, read on.
He stared hard at the picture of a house in shambles, its interiors hacked and rubble left all over the place.
He scrutinised the article to learn more about the plight of Mr Vincent Koh Keng Hin, 38, who had paid an $85,000 down payment to his contractor who became uncontactable since August.
The contractor had abandoned the renovation work midway at the insurance agent's inter-terrace house at Pasir Ris Heights.
It sounded too much like what happened to Mr Chew himself, who began to suspect that he had hired the same contractor.
"Call it a victim's instinct. When I read Vincent's story, I felt very frustrated because my family was cheated by this unscrupulous contractor," said Mr Chew.
Apart from Mr Chew, The New Paper understands that other clients and subcontractors who provided goods and services to the contractor also lost money.
The New Paper visited Mr Chew's two-storey inter-terrace house at Happy Avenue East off Macpherson on Tuesday. His house looked to be far from complete.
Mr Chew said he has paid about $145,000 to the contractor in progressive payment.
He was quoted $237,000 for renovation work on the house's structure,
attic floor and six rooms.
Mr Chew and his three adult children have three houses - the one at Happy Avenue East and another two in Sennett Estate. All three are inter-terrace homes.
Mr Chew bought his property at Happy Avenue East in 2007 at $800,000. Renovations began in October 2009.
Said the business owner, who earns about $6,500 monthly: "I was careful with my payment and did not pay him a lump sum.
"But no matter how prudent I was, he still managed to get away with delivering substandard work."
Mr Chew's daughter-in-law, Madam Anna Lim, 40, a manager in his company, said that after a payment of $12,000 was made, work progress slowed down before the contractor soon became uncontactable.
She said: "Until now, we can't find him, his manager or any of his contact persons since we last made payment of about $12,000 in April this year."
Mr Chew's house now has an unsafe structure.
An engineer whom the contractor had engaged to render services said the beams and pillars which the contractor left incomplete, are "not strong enough".
Mr Chew said: "As such, I have to engage another contractor to reconstruct the house. This would mean more money out of my pocket."
Mr Chew also said that in November last year, the contractor performed works on the attic floor without properly ensuring the cement's thickness.
He was told by the same engineer that the floor was "too thin", causing water seepage from rainfall and mouldy pillars.
Mr Chew first met the contractor in September 2009 when the latter was working on a house in Sennett Estate. Impressed with the house that the contractor was building, he asked for his name card and contacted him later.
Mr Chew, who made a police report, said: "We met again, and I was impressed by the drawings and pictures in his portfolio.
"It also helped that he's a very sweet-talker. He's very obliging and people-oriented."
Another client of the contractor, who declined to be named, had a similar story when The New Paper contacted him.
Impressed at first
Like Mr Koh and Mr Chew, the man was also impressed by the contractor at first.
The man, who declined to say how much money he lost to the contractor, claimed that the contractor "has a system in place".
He also understands from his own sources that there are at least "17 or more clients who were cheated".
The client said: "He would advertise in the newspapers to attract clients and quote offers much lower than other contractors in the market.
"Then he'll meet the client and drive them around in his BMW 6 Series to boost their confidence level."
He added that the contractor will take his client to see some of his completed projects.
"When the deal is finalised, he'll give many reasons to get more money from his client, usually to purchase building materials which cost over $100,000.
"Once money is collected, he'll hack and destroy the house, ignore all calls and slowly disappear," he said.
But that is not all.
The man believes that the contractor has his own "cost-cutting" strategies.
He alleged: "The contractor will throw other victims' house debris into his latest victim's hacked house to avoid paying the disposal fee."
The man, who is concerned that the contractor may strike again, said: "The money I lost can never be recovered, but we hope the authorities can do something to help us. We want some closure."
Checks with legal portal LawNet revealed that four companies had issued writs of summons against the same contractor over the last two years.
An employee from one of the companies told TNP that the contractor had owed them about $8,000.
She said: "We tried going down to their premises, but there was nothing left to claim."
"From what we understand, another company had gone down to the premises before us, and they also left empty-handed," added the employee.
A sub-contractor told TNP it had worked with the contractor on several projects for more than a year until he became uncontactable. The sub-contractor said he's "owed about $100,000".
The sub-contractor added that his company was still determining the final amount before deciding their next course of action. He declined to say more.
Police confirmed that Mr Chew made a police report and they are investigating.
[email protected]
This article was first published in The New Paper (http://www.tnp.sg/).