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Dodgy Enniskillen builder pleads poverty after cheating over 20 customers out of £180k

Fraudster took on work he knew he couldn’t complete… now he’s too in debt to repay victims

Christopher Woodhouse

Today at 07:30

This is the dodgy builder who cheated £180,000 out of more than 20 customers for work he was unable to complete.

Paul McAloon also ran up debts with four building supply firms he never paid during a spiral of fraudulent behaviour designed to keep struggling his business afloat.

The 38-year-old, of Eshnadarragh Road in Enniskillen, is due to be sentenced next month on 30 charges of fraud by false representation committed between April 2020 and March 2022.

Six of his victims looked on from the public gallery of Dungannon Crown Court last week as a prosecution lawyer detailed how McAloon took deposits of up to 50 per cent of the cost of projects for work that was never done.

The lawyer said when questioned by police McAloon told them he could complete between eight and 12 jobs in a year.

But the work that was the subject of the fraud amounted to the equivalent of two years of commissions.

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Watch: Sunday Life confronts dodgy builder who cheated more than 20 customers_duplicated

He said the money paid for the work was used to support his business through paying for wages and materials.

With McAloon in debt to suppliers, he asked those he cheated to pay the deposits “quickly”.

The lawyer said the victims described McAloon as “charming and confident” and that he did some small bits of work for some of those involved.

In June 2021, McAloon defaulted on some debts to suppliers and took on more work to cover the costs of jobs.

Among the jobs he took deposits for but never completed were a sun room extension, a summer house, a timber chalet, a garage and patio and a log cabin, along with a number of extensions.

He was arrested for the frauds at Belfast International Airport in March last year as he left an aircraft.

The lawyer said McAloon had dishonestly misrepresented his intentions by taking on work he could never complete in the usual timescale.

McAloon pleaded guilty to the charges during a hearing at the same court in March this year.

His barrister said it was not the case that he had set out to intentionally embezzle or defraud people out of their money for his own selfish purposes.

He said McAloon had set out “in good faith and with the best of intentions” but “got in way over his head” and made the hole deeper for himself by accepting more work.

The barrister pointed out that during the period when he committed the fraud, there had been a significant rise in the cost of materials and said McAloon accepted work he knew he wouldn’t be able to complete.

“As the days and weeks went by, the situation got worse and matters came to an end, but that’s no consolation for the injured parties,” he added.

The said victims had contacted McAloon to “politely” enquire as to what was going on.

He said his life was clearly a mess and he was “stressed out to the absolute maximum”.

The lawyer described the case a “mess of his own making”, not one of “sophisticated or planned criminality”.

He said McAloon had been in the building trade for years and was a skilled man with positive testimonials for his work.

McAloon, he said, attracted work at a time when demand for such projects was “through the roof” during the period of coronavirus restrictions.

He said McAloon had asked him to express in court his regret and remorse for the distress his actions had caused.

But he revealed the father-of-two was not in a position to repay any of the money because he was in debt.

He told the court McAloon had spent the money taken as deposits on keeping his business afloat.

He said while it was not spent on “anything inappropriate”, the business was “going further down”.

After hearing the Crown and defence submissions, Judge Brian Sherrard KC adjourned sentencing until November 23 to consider reports and victim impact statements.

McAloon was freed on continuing bail and declined to comment on the hearing when approached as he left court.