Contractor facing multiple fraud charges left home in 'atrocious' state

When a fire destroyed Charlene Mills's home and all her possessions, she felt it was a "blessing" she had a rental house in Dartmouth, N.S., in which to move — it just needed a little work. 

But that blessing would soon become a curse, Mills said, after she posted an ad on Kijiji looking for a contractor and hired Robert Allan Monk soon after. 

Three weeks later, when she inspected the work, Mills said she was horrified to find cigarette butts everywhere — stubbed out on top of her refrigerator, on the stove and covering her draperies that were, for some reason, dumped into the bathtub, along with the window blinds. 

"We have no ceiling," she said. "It's atrocious the state that he left the property in."

What Mills and her partner didn't know at the time was that Monk, 50, had three previous fraud convictions, and was forbidden from using online ad services such as Kijiji and Facebook to find clients, an order he's accused of ignoring.

Mills is one of several people who told CBC that Monk took their money for a variety of contractor jobs that were never completed.

Earlier this month, Halifax police announced two-dozen new charges against Monk, including eight fraud-related offences. The 50-year-old is accused of taking money from customers but not doing the work. He has not yet entered a plea on the charges.

His most recent fraud conviction was on June 27, 2018. He received a suspended sentence, 18 months probation and was ordered to pay restitution of $6,210. On Dec. 13, Monk was sentenced to 15 days in custody for not paying the restitution. 

When reached for comment, Monk said on "the advice of counsel, I have no comment at this time."

Six days after fire destroyed her house, Mills posted on Kijiji looking for a general contractor. She and her partner wanted the work done as quickly as possible, as they were living in a hotel.

Mills said they showed a number of contractors through the property but ultimately decided on Monk's services since he was confident he could do the work on the fastest timeline. 

Mills asked for references, and Monk gave the name of someone he said was his landlord and two people for whom he said he did snow clearing. Mills asked for references related to his contracting work. When those two didn't call her back, she said Monk sent her pictures of work he said he had previously done, and told Mills "a reference is a reference."

"In retrospect ... that should have been a red flag for us," said Mills.

Given that Mills and her partner were busy dealing with the fallout from their devastating fire, they weren't around to micromanage the work at their rental property.