Stratford preschool among Object Builders 'fraud' complainants

Over the course of more than a month we spoke to former customers and contractors who claim to have been left out of pocket - some to the tune of tens of thousands of pounds.

To read all the stories in this series click here. 

A businesswoman says she may lose a lucrative government grant to double the size of her business, thanks to delays caused by a building company which took her money and then “ghosted” her.

Katarzyna Marcinowska, 44, paid just under £9,000 of her own money to Sidcup building firm Object Limited, to extend her Wonder Years Preschool in Turley Close, Stratford.

But she called in police after the firm took her money, then shut down its website and cut off all its phone numbers and email addresses.

She is one of 19 people confirmed to have filed formal fraud complaints with City of London Police’s Action Fraud squad.

The National Fraud Intelligence Bureau has since assessed her case and passed it to the Metropolitan Police Service for investigation.

The Metropolitan Police stated: “An investigation is underway, relating to potential fraud. At this stage, no arrests have been made."

Object Limited, which traded as Object Builders, has not responded to Newsquest’s approaches for comment.

But registered company owner and director Robin Rudland told another customer in a filmed confrontation that he was not really in charge and just allowed his name to be used in filings.

Company director Robin Rudland did not respond to Newsquest's requests for comment but told another customer in a filmed confrontation that he was not really in charge and just allowed his name to be used on forms (Image: Ray Mo) “If you feel like you’ve been done or whatever, if you feel that way – which is not the case, but I think it’s, everything’s just got out of hand, like – you’re just gonna have to go to the Old Bill,” he said. “Just go to the police.”

Katarzyna was offered grant funding earlier this year that would have allowed Wonder Years to double its capacity by extending its building.

It currently offers two sessions per day for up to 12 children, plus an after-school club, but the cash injection would have allowed her to run at least twice that number of sessions.

The grant was offered due to a shortage of preschool places for young toddlers in Newham, she said.

Delighted by the planned public investment, Katarzyna found Object Limited through CheckATrade.

The firm quoted her £44,626 for the works. On June 12, according to an Object Limited receipt seen by Newsquest, she paid just under £9,000 as a deposit.

Katarzyna said she used her own money because she knew she would eventually be refunded from the grant.

Katarzyna said she hired Object Limited after being awarded a grant by Newham Council to extend her Wonder Years Preschool in Stratford. But now, she claimed, that funding is at risk because of the delays caused by the building firm's disappearance (Image: Charles Thomson) Her first moment of concern, she said, was right as she was paying – because the company representative she was dealing with actively encouraged her to pay some of the balance by credit card.

“He goes, ‘If anything goes wrong, you can always claim it on the credit card’,” she recalled.

Heeding the warning, she said, she paid £8,495 via bank transfer and £500 on credit card.

But she wafted away her doubts because the company’s website and presentation were so convincing.

“It all looked so professional,” she recalled. “They sent me quotations. There were documents attached, like insurance and registration.”

However, after she had handed over her deposit, the firm became far less proactive, she claimed.

She had to chase for weeks before an architect arrived. After that, she alleged, “They stopped answering my calls.”

It was the architect who eventually tipped her off that there might be a problem, she said.

“He found out that there were other customers and none of them had had their jobs done. He put me in touch with these people.”

Newsquest spoke to the architect, who corroborated Katarzyna’s account. He discovered groups on WhatsApp and Facebook, full of disgruntled customers saying they had been abandoned by Object Limited.

Katarzyna said she was left feeling 'stupid' after Object Limited, which traded as Object Builders, took her deposit and then disappeared, with its website going offline and all its phone numbers no longer working (Image: Charles Thomson)

“At first, I didn’t want to believe it,” Katarzyna said. “It was so surreal. When I joined the WhatsApp group there were about 100 people in it. Every single day, another person would join with exactly the same story as mine.

“It was like my whole life flashed before my eyes. I felt so stupid. Like, how could I fall for something like this? It was almost like an out-of-body experience. It was a proper reality check.”

But the more she learned about the other complainants, she said, the less bad she felt.

“There were lawyers, doctors, teachers,” she recalled. I’ve been running a business since I was 18. It all looked so legit.”

Katarzyna’s bank repaid her losses under the Contingent Reimbursement Model (CRM).

But she is still pursuing the police complaint and is speaking out to help those who remain out of pocket.

“It’s terrible, what has happened,” said Katarzyna. “I just hope all the others can get their money back as well. We all need justice.”

Although she has got her money back, the extension of her business is now in question.

“I’ve been in child care for a long time now, so I have a good, close relationship with Newham Council,” said Katarzyna. 

“They have been very supportive, actually. They are still holding the grant for us to be able to extend.”

But thanks to the delays caused by Object Limited’s disappearance, she could lose the grant funding.  

“We were supposed to take these new kids in in September, or absolutely by the latest January,” she said.

“They won’t be able to hold the money forever. There’s a high risk I’m going to lose the grant.”

CheckATrade’s PR agency was approached for comment, as was Newham Council.