Unlicensed Adelaide tradesman Andrew James Laundy jailed for keeping $24,000 in client deposits without finishing jobs
He made $24,000 by taking jobs, pocketing deposits and moving on without finishing the work – now an Adelaide tradie whose promises were as crooked as his retaining walls is behind bars.
Police & Courts
Don't miss out on the headlines from Police & Courts. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- Dodgy tradies on the prowl: ‘My dream home became a nightmare’
- Real estate agent ripped off elderly, vulnerable man in sale swindle
An unlicensed tradie who trawled the internet for clients and pocketed $24,000 in deposits without ever finishing the job will spend the next seven months behind bars.
Andrew James Laundy has earned the dishonourable distinction of being the only person made subject of two public warnings by the Commissioner for Consumer Affairs.
But even that did not stop Laundy deceiving clients, blaming everything from job overruns, cars that wouldn’t start and even family funerals for his shoddy, unfinished work.
In the Christies Beach Magistrates Court last week, however, Laundy ran out of excuses and straight into a jail cell.
Magistrate Sue O’Connor said Laundy’s life was more about the scam than the work.
“You lived out of a bank account of other people’s money,” she said.
“Your offending mirrors similar offending in 2017, where you took consumers’ funds for your own convenience and lived off it with dismal performance of any building work.”
Laundy, 30, pleaded guilty to six counts of theft and four counts of accepting payment and failing to provide goods or services within a reasonable time.
He also confessed to one count of carrying on business as a building work contractor without a licence.
Laundy’s business, called Creative Scapes, preyed on consumers who placed “tradie wanted” ads on sites like Gumtree and Airtasker.
He provided quotes and accepted deposits from nine consumers but did no work at all for five of them, while the remaining jobs were either substandard or incomplete.
When confronted by one consumer, who had paid Laundy $5600 to install retaining walls and fencing, he gave her $1500 – the only money he has ever repaid.
Last week, Laundy was jailed for seven months and three weeks, with the final three months of his term to be served on a good behaviour bond.
Commissioner for Consumer Affairs Dini Soulio told the Sunday Mail public warnings had been issued about Laundy in 2015 and 2019.
“Laundy’s pattern of offending was clear – every time he ran low on funds, he would simply accept another deposit, without ever starting the work,” he said.
“The sad reality is that in this case, some people only learned of Laundy’s history and the fact he was unlicensed because they did a google search after they’d already given him money.
“This is why consumers should always check before engaging a tradesperson.”
To check the register, head to https://www.cbs.sa.gov.au/find-a-licence-holder.
