A North Vancouver contractor has been found guilty by a B.C. Supreme Court judge of ripping off a Vancouver homeowner by taking her deposit for a skylight installation and not completing the work.
Don Nelsen was found guilty Sept. 15 of fraud for charging Katie Loewen $900 for a skylight then never showing up to complete the job on her Vancouver home.
In court, Nelsen testified Loewen was the one who cancelled several installation dates and he left it up to her to get back to him. But the judge didn't believe him, describing his testimony as self-serving and implausible.
Nelsen eventually returned Loewen's deposit after learning she had made a complaint to police.
The judge acquitted Nelsen of two other fraud charges connected to another skylight contract in West Vancouver. Nelsen eventually returned a $2,300 deposit to that homeowner as well - 18 months after failing to show up for the work.
Nelsen was originally charged with a fourth count of defrauding another North Vancouver homeowner out of about $25,000. Crown elected not to proceed on that charge after deciding there was no likelihood of conviction.
The latest incident isn't the first time Nelsen has been found guilty of putting holes in his customers' bank accounts.
In 2012, a Vancouver provincial court judge handed Nelsen a six-month conditional sentence, including three months of house arrest, after finding him guilty of fraud in similar circumstances of taking deposits then taking off without doing the work.
In 2007, Nelsen was convicted of five fraud offences for bilking 10 customers out of more than $34,000. In all of those cases, Nelsen was paid deposits for work that was never completed.
Two companies operated by Nelsen - Skylights Only and Canadian Skylights Inc. - have both received an "F" rating by the Better Business Bureau for failing to respond to complaints.
The sentencing for Nelsen has been adjourned until Nov. 25.
