Dodgy man defrauded pensioner over $180,000
FIRST ON 7: The owner of a Logan rubbish removal business has been arrested accused of defrauding an 82-year-old widow of her life savings.
The office of Fair Trading has taken the rare step of naming and shaming Gary Hudson, to find more of his alleged victims.
Betty Ives has always believed the best in people ... until last night when a man she trusted to tidy her backyard was charged with fraud.
"I really dislike him immensely to take someone down deliberately I’m annoyed with myself," she said
When Betty’s husband of 54 years passed away she called 'Gazza's Rubbish Removals' to take Frank's metal and machinery, from their 450-square-metre yard.
"The boys were telling me I was just like grandma and all they really did was butter me up,"
Over several months, they billed Betty four times a total of $187,387 for "rubbish" they removed and then sold as scrap.
"It should've only been a couple of thousand dollars to remove that amount of rubbish on such a small block," Stephen L’Barrow from the Office of Fair Trading said.
Make a complaint on the Fair Trading website
Have you dealt with Gary Hudson? Call the Office of Fair Trading number on 137 468.
Betty says they intimidated her when she questioned the bill. It was her first financial decision, without her late husband.
"He said ‘but your husband must've left you well off’," Betty explained.
"I said ‘no my husband got a small pension and I worked as a dental assistant’. We weren't well paid at all."
Towards the end of Frank's sickness, Betty was the bread winner. Hudson even asked her, for a loan.
Police are looking for more victims. They're are investigating another complaint from a man who was charged $8000 for the removal of one palm tree
The Office of Fair Trading has named and shamed Gary Hudson; a public humiliation reserved for just 11 other people since 2003.
Mr Hudson told 7News he was closing his business and working towards rectifying the issue. He doesn't own property and doesn't have money in the bank. Betty's life savings could be gone.
"He's a miserable toad," Betty laughed. "He was greedy."
