Home builder cops suspension after allegedly scamming hundreds with fake insurance certificates

A Victorian construction company and its director have been suspended for alleged dodgy dealings in hundreds of projects spanning several years.

The Victorian Building Authority investigated a home building company for allegedly scamming hundreds of its customers with fake insurance certificates.

A home builder that allegedly faked insurance certificates for up to 200 projects over several years has been suspended after raids on properties across outer Melbourne suburbs.

Aycon Constructions & Building Services and its director, Seyit Ayranci, have been booted off dozens of construction sites, with customers told they did not have protection against any substandard work or if the company collapsed.

The scale of the alleged scam was discovered during a three-week data-matching investigation by industry regulator, the Victorian Building Authority, which showed a large number of building permits were not linked to domestic building insurance policies.

Some certificates of insurance that were produced had a Victorian Managed Insurance Authority logo that was “not genuine”.

It comes a year after the collapse of home builder Porter Davis, which had failed to take out insurance for hundreds of families who had paid deposits and sparked a major crisis.

The allegedly fraudulent company promotes itself as trustworthy during a 2020 build. Picture: Instagram

VBA Commissioner and Chief Executive, Anna Cronin, said the regulator would “use its full range of enforcement powers to protect consumers against potential harms caused by unprofessional conduct and non-compliant building work”.

“We will hold those who do the wrong thing to account and do all we can to remove them from the building industry,” she said.

“If a Domestic Building Insurance policy is not in place, it is not only an offence under the Building Act, but exposes homeowners to potentially significant financial and emotional turmoil.”

The Victorian Building Authority searches properties while investigating Aycon Constructions & Building Services’ alleged fraud.

Aycon has 49 live permits, with at least 10 home builds half-finished, while 18 are at lockup stage, and nine in the fixing stage.
Customers with sites that require more work will need to find another builder to finish their jobs.

The VBA said it recognised the “distress” the suspension of the builder may cause Aycon customers and it is “actively working with our government partners to support affected customers”.

The scale of the alleged scam was discovered during a three-week data-matching investigation by industry regulator, the Victorian Building Authority.

Victorian Building Authority inspectors raided four properties — in Oaklands Junction, Aintree, Woodstock and Somerton — to gather more evidence of the alleged fraud, which they believe has been occurring since 2018.

An investigation is continuing, including into how building permits were issued without proper DBI certificates, but the VBA does not believe any other companies are involved at this stage.

By law, DBI must be taken out on any domestic building work over $16,000, and consumers have been urged to view proof of a valid policy before handing over a deposit.