Paul Guzzardi fronts court over nearly $170k fraud

A concreter who deceived his customers by collecting nearly $170k in deposits for work he never undertook told a judge dishonesty came naturally to him.

Benalla concreter Paul Guzzardi conned 25 customers by obtaining nearly $170,000 for work he never undertook.

A concreter conned 25 customers out of nearly $170,000 for concrete work he never completed and used his ill-gotten gains to fuel his gambling and ice addiction.

Paul Guzzardi advertised his business Goonawarra Concreting in Benalla, giving out quotes and receiving deposits between June and December 2022.

But instead of pouring the concrete, Guzzardi made various excuses for not turning up — including breaking his leg, contracting Covid, his tools being stolen and mourning the death of a loved one.

He was sentenced in the County Court on Thursday to a drug and alcohol treatment programme after earlier pleading guilty to 25 charges of obtaining a financial advantage by deception and one of obtaining property by deception.

“Yours was a simple deception. You put up a website and waited for customers to bite. The need and ease with which you offered excuses proved that your offending was deeply entrenched,” Judge Paul Higham said.

Paul Guzzardi blew his ill-gotten gains of nearly $170,000 on gambling and ice.

Guzzardi was arrested in South Australia on February 1, 2023 and extradited to Victoria two days later.

He told Victoria Police he was a gambling addict and the reasons he gave his customers for not completing the work were false.

Judge Higham said Guzzardi’s moral culpability was high as he knew what he was doing was wrong but continued to use his customers as an income stream.

Judge Higham said the most honest thing Guzzardi said in court during an earlier appearance was ““I am sorry Your Honour, dishonesty comes so natural to me”.

Ice has been Guzzardi’s constant companion since he turned 18 and he consumed up to 2g a day, the judge said.

Judge Higham warned him not to do a runner or breach any condition of the drug and alcohol treatment order otherwise he’d be back in custody.

Guzzardi is prohibited from consuming alcohol and drugs, gambling, driving and can only access internet from one device.