Builders stung by fraudster

"Now, we turn away more jobs than we accept," said Duncan, managing director of Auckland's Alliance Construction which builds factories, schools, offices and houses.

But learning the lesson about clients was not easy.

Duncan estimates that his firm lost $400,000 from a $1.4 million contract to build offices and two apartments for convicted fraudster Stephen Gubb, sentenced to four years' jail for stealing $1.2 million in his role as a property consultant.

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