Threatening And Aggressive Rogue Trader Deceived Customers

Wimbledon Magistrates Court

A Maidstone rogue trader lied to customers and demanded money for sub-standard work during a £25,000 roofing and building scam.

Father-of-three Michael Verrechia, 27, of Little Willows, Eastwood Road, Ulcombe deceived customers by claiming he had £1m liability insurance; work was guaranteed for twenty years and he was a member of the Confederation of Roofing Contractors.

He was prosecuted by Kingston-upon-Thames council's Trading Standards and pleaded guilty to a total of five summonses and was sentenced at Wimbledon Magistrates Court.

Verrechia, who has returned £15,400 to compensate his victims was placed on a 12-month community order, which includes 160 hours community service work, was fined £300 and must obey an electronically-tagged three-month home curfew between 8pm and 6am.

He swindled female customers at their homes in Chancery Road, Chessington and Maida Vale and a customer in Northampton.

Verrechia pleaded guilty to two counts of unfair trading in relation to the women, who were each quoted £6,000 for work, but were aggressively billed for £12,000 on June 22, last year.

He also admitted defrauding the first woman by failing to disclose information to her on June 5 and dishonestly making a false representation to the Northampton customer and laundering £6,400 that customer paid him.

Verrechia identified himself as 'Red Rose Home Improvements' and the 'British Building and Roofing Company'.

At the first woman's three bedroom Chessington address she describes Verrechia as “threatening” and the dodgy tradesman “pressurised and misled” the customer say Trading Standards.

The court was told: “Abuse was passed on and a demand for full payment,” an associate of Verrechia: “Threatened to rip the roof off if money was not paid.”

The sub-standard work needed a £5,800 fix after Verrechia's handiwork.

The second woman received a £750 quote for a leaking roof extension, which Verrechia inflated to £6,500 and then nearly doubled to £12,000.

The victim transferred the full amount and told investigators she had succumbed to “old lady syndrome.”