Eastern Ontario residents allege they paid contractor thousands of dollars for work never completed

A Luskville, Que. contractor is facing charges after Ontario Provincial Police allege 11 residents in eastern Ontario were defrauded out of nearly $1,000,000.

Two of the alleged victims shared their story with CTV News Ottawa of how they paid a local contractor thousands of dollars for work they say was never completed.

In August, 46-year-old Kevin Proulx, the owner and operator of Timberlock General Contracting, was arrested and charged with 22 fraud-related offences. Ontario Provincial Police say the investigation began in October 2022 after receiving information alleging a business had not completed "agreed-upon contractual work" for several people in eastern Ontario.

Luc Jobin says he will be recovering for years after hiring a contractor to build his dream garage.

It went horribly wrong, Jobin says.

"A lot of nights without sleeping, a lot of stress and I used my savings to build it. So maybe at the end, I’m going to have to work a few years more," said Jobin.

Jobin says he hired Kevin Proulx of Timberlock General Contracting to do the work.

"At the beginning, he asked for 50 per cent up front of the value of the garage, which was $80,000 total. So I gave him about $50,000 in a bank draft," he said.

Jobin says weeks went by with no work being done.

"He was not here working, he was only here to pick up the money," Jobin said. "When he requested more money, a few bells rang at that point."

That’s when Jobin decided to hire a lawyer to pursue the contractor and he began to build the garage himself.

"I probably spent between $45,000 to $50,000 more to build it by myself."

Dave Bland says he is also one of those alleged victims. He says he hired Proulx for a garage project, spending tens of thousands of dollars.

"He was looking to have a deposit right away in order to secure some building materials," Bland said. “There was a percentage given, I think about $40,000 of it."

After weeks of no work, he also decided to hire a lawyer while getting the work done himself.

"I work hard for what I have and to trust somebody to do this is very heartbreaking."

CTV News reached out to Proulx for an interview, but he declined. In a phone call, he told CTV News, "We did nothing wrong to anybody. We have always been transparent, and we are willing to resolve any issues.”

The OPP says Proulx has been released from custody with a future court date.

The alleged victims that spoke to CTV News say they aren’t confident that they will ever see their money again.

Meanwhile, OPP say when completing home renovations or repairs, never pay the full amount of the contract before the work is done, which will protect you from losing money if the company goes out of business or declares bankruptcy before finishing the project.