Fake tradie Kamel Moussellmani, aka Ali Faraj, guilty of fraud

A man pretending to be a tradie got Coast homeowners to cough up $180,000 for renovations – and walked away when it was half done. It’s not the first time.

A fake tradie got three Gold Coast homeowners to cough up $183,000 for renovations to their homes – and walked away when the work was half done.

Kamel Moussellmani, also known as Ali Faraj, did all of this without a builder’s licence.

He has been “in four courts in three other states” for similar offending, the Southport District Court was told.

The Pimpama man duped the homeowners by using the company name and licence number of another builder.

Moussellmani, 39, pleaded guilty in the Southport District Court on Thursday to three counts of fraud.

Judge Katherine McGinness sentenced him to three-and-a-half years’ prison, to be suspended after he has served nine months.

“What is clear is you set out to obtain money from each of the complainant against a background of you committing similar type of behaviour interstate,” she said.

Judge McGinness said Mousellmani also showed “wilful blindness and recklessness” to the victims who had put their trust in him.

NAMED: GOLD COAST TRADIES GONE BAD

Crown prosecutor Stephanie Gallagher told the court Moussellmani had been “in four courts in three other states for similar types of conduct”.

The frauds all took place between January 2019 and May 2019.

Moussellmani used another company’s name and licence number to advertise for building projects.

Moussellmani, 39, pleaded guilty in the Southport District Court.

Three different people hired him after Moussellmani gave them quotes. He got them to pay upfront.

In some cases he did the work but in others he hired licensed contracts.

Ms Gallagher said he was caught when a contractor was not paid.

He left all three projects before they had finished.

She told the court it was not clear the total amount Mousellmani had made from the three projects as some of the work had been completed.

Defence barrister Carmen De Marco, instructed by Donnelly Law Group, said Mousellmani completed the work under a “genuine yet misguided desire to project manage construction work”.

She said he had accepted what he did was wrong and was remorseful.

Mousellmani had not offended since these incidents.

Ms De Marco said Mousellmani had been doing work as a yard hand.

In 2020 he was fined $30,000 in the Southport Magistrates Court for acting as a builder while unlicensed.

He is still paying off that fine.

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Originally published as Fake tradie Kamel Moussellmani, aka Ali Faraj, guilty of fraud