Police claim Allan Jason Dean Howard pocketed almost $80,000 in deposits then vanished without doing the work.

What was meant to be a dream renovation turned into a costly nightmare for Piero Staci.

“We have no savings anymore, which we would have otherwise,” he told 9News.

The Cooloongup father-of-two refinanced the family home, paying a tradesman a $21,000 deposit for the job. 

But on the day work was meant to start, the tradie never showed up. 

“He basically pulled everything he could pull out to delay: ‘I couldn’t pick up’. ‘I was busy’. ‘I was sick’,” Staci alleged.

Police allege that tradie was Howard, trading as Allan’s Plastering.

Consumer Protection says it’s received 11 complaints about the same man, with claimed losses of almost $79,000. 

Customers from Mindarie to Cooloongup claim they paid upfront but the work was never done.   

Howard faced Armadale Magistrates Court yesterday charged with stealing and forging a document. He is yet to enter a plea.

The alleged victims may never get their money back but they hope their warning prevents others from being scammed.