JOHN Tripodi knows all too well about the pitfalls of the construction industry.
Over decades the Hunter-based concreter has seen builders go to the wall for a host of reasons, but he never anticipated being caught out by one he considered a friend.
Mr Tripodi is one of more than 80 creditors owed almost $4 million by former Lorn-based builder Chris Fonti's CDF Constructions.
As previously reported, CDF Constructions was forced into liquidation in April following court action taken in February and March due to unpaid tax and workers compensation debts.
Total debt is estimated at $3.7 million, with $2.46 million owed to 63 unsecured creditors. No creditors are expected to see a return.
Mr Tripodi, who met Mr Fonti through his children's primary school, signed a contract with CDF Constructions to build his family's new home at Vacy.
Work started on the project with the footings and piers dug, but everything came to a grinding halt when no concrete arrived.
"The bank gave them about $43,495 in June 2021, and then nothing ever happened," Mr Tripodi said.
"So I've been paying a mortgage on that. They couldn't find the surplus to start the job. I told them I wasn't throwing any more money in because they should have accounts. There was no way I was paying them any more money when basically very little had happened."
According to the creditor's report, Mr Tripodi and his wife are owed $44,815, which includes money they had to pay the surveyor after he wasn't paid.
He believes Mr Fonti "should have pulled up stumps" with CDF Constructions a "long time before he did".
A statutory report to creditors from liquidator James Shaw, of Shaw Gidley Insolvency Reconstruction, obtained by the Newcastle Herald, alleges the construction company, also known as CDF Carpentry, may have been insolvent since "June 2020, if not earlier".
Mr Shaw said the value of the "likely insolvent trading" claim was estimated at $2 million, subject to further investigations.
"My investigations suggest that the director has no personal assets available to meet a claim of this nature," he said. "Further, the director has indicated that he is considering applying for personal bankruptcy. As such, I do not propose to pursue an insolvent trading claim at this point in time."
Mr Tripodi is one of more than a dozen creditors who have contacted the Newcastle Herald to express their anger at the situation.
"CDF agreed to repay the money and as soon as that happened I sort of stopped chasing them so hard," he said.
It's a decision he now regrets, because promise after promise to repay the money fell through.
"We obviously never got it back and the work that was done at the site will now need to be redone," he said.
"It has just been sitting there for so long."
Still renting, Mr Tripodi said no work had been done on the site since June last year.
"It's cost my family a lot, including putting a huge amount of stress on my wife," he said.
"I've had to go back down to Sydney to work in an effort to try and recoup some of the money we have lost."
The sole director of CDF Constructions is Mr Fonti, 34, of Bungwahl.
CDF Construction began in 2016 and was owned by Mr Fonti and his wife, Paige Fonti.
At the time of liquidation, CDF had minus $367 in the bank and owed more than $1.1 million in unpaid superannuation and $140,000 in wages to 19 people.
Among the list of CDF Constructions creditors is Hunter Trade College owed $37,654 and Ocean and Lake All Trade Services owed $90,211.
The Herald has been unable to contact Mr and Mrs Fonti.
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