A South Australian demolition contractor who deceived clients about the presence of asbestos in order to overcharge them has had his case heard in the state’s Supreme Court.
While neither John Goros or his company, Hindmarsh Demolition, attended court nor sent legal representation, Chief Justice Chris Kourakis found that Mr Goros “lied for his own advantage.”
The investigation into Mr Goros and his company across three state government departments revealed that he had engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct while dealing with eight clients in 2016.
In his statement, Chief Justice Kourakis noted that he found Mr Goros and his company had “falsely claimed to have found asbestos in worksite rubble; charged clients extra to dump the non-existent substance; wrongly accepted payment for that work; exploited their “bargaining power” over clients, resulting in “gross inequality”; used “undue pressure and tactics”; failed to “act in good faith” and engaged in “conduct which is against society’s norms of good conscience”.
He said Mr Goros “did more than merely confuse” his clients. “He positively induced the consumers through varied tactics, including pressure and threats, to pay him additional monies for the removal and disposal of asbestos which was not there,” he said.
“He took advantage of the consumers in a variety of ways and exploited the trust that they had in him as the apparent expert in the control of asbestos material.
“Put simply, Mr Goros lied for his own advantage.”
Mr Goros formally denied the allegations.
Chief Justice Kourakis said he was satisfied, beyond a reasonable doubt, Mr Goros was “practising a fraudulent scheme”.
He said it was “improbable” one man could “come across so many instances” of asbestos being used in the same parts of different properties.
He will hear submissions on the penalty next month.