KING

The KING 5 Investigators found that the state has caught Sione Taufa working illegally at least 20 times.

Sione Taufa is an unregistered contractor with a history of trouble. The KING 5 cameras rolled as he worked illegally at four homes in Kent. And even though the state knew he was there, they didn't stop him.

Why doesn't the state just shut him down on the spot?

"Sometimes that would create a bigger hardship for consumers if we shut him down immediately," said Pete Schmidt, who is in charge of contractor registration for the State Dept. of Labor and Industries.

Eighty-six-year-old Naomi Smith of Renton knows Taufa well.

"First he said $6,000… that sounded pretty good. Then as he got into working, it was another $6,000," she said.

Last October, Smith paid Taufa $20,000 out of her retirement account for a new driveway, patio and walkway.

Taufa tore up the yard, did a small amount of work and left everything in shambles.

"And then, poof, he's gone!" said Smith.

Smith's neighbor Christine Tomalik hired Taufa too. He completed one job but left a huge portion of another one unfinished.

"He was supposed to put nice stamped concrete for a driveway… a landing for the wheelchair..." she said. "He was supposed to put a drain that goes along here."

Tomalik says Taufa kept pressuring her for more money and even followed her to the bank.

"I was like, wait here, I'll get my money. And he followed me to the bank. I'm like, oh my God, I am so scared now," she said.

Tomalik and Smith live just four miles from where Taufa is now working those jobs in Kent.

"It's not right what you're doing. How many people have you done this to? And how many people have you left in the rubble like you left me ," said Smith.

It's a long list, going back more than a decade.

The KING 5 Investigators found the state has caught him working illegally at least 20 times. Yet they've done little more than chase him from job to job, slapping him with one infraction after another.

In fact, right now, Taufa owes state taxpayers more than $50,000 in unpaid fines and industrial insurance. Yet he's out there working.

Linda Byron: "Would you agree this guy is the poster child for what's wrong with the system?"

"I would agree he's one of them. I haven't done all the research but he would definitely be one of them," said Schmidt.

KING

Naomi Smith paid Taufa $20,000 out of her retirement account for a new driveway, patio and walkway. Taufa tore up the yard, did a small amount of work and left everything in shambles.

"I'm very, very angry," said 75-year-old Larry Walsh of Bellevue, who can't believe Taufa is still working as a contractor.

Five years ago, Walsh hired him to build a retaining wall. Taufa destroyed his yard doing it, then took off.

"He ripped me off. And I was a fool to let it happen. That makes me feel even worse," said Walsh.

And there were others in the neighborhood.

Sheri Keelan's father paid Taufa $28,000 to create a dream landscape. Years later, the unfinished fence and piles of rubble are still there.

"He definitely needs to pay back my father and other people and he needs to be in jail. That's theft," she said.

In 2004, Taufa did spend 27 days in jail. He was convicted of 7 counts of unregistered contracting. But the crime is only a misdemeanor.

Now, years later, when L & I discovers Taufa contracting illegally, again, they fine him $5,000 and let him keep working.

"Our inspectors are extremely frustrated with these folks and we continue to look for ways to strengthen the law and protect consumers. That's our business is to protect consumers," said Schmidt.

Taufa's full of denials and excuses when we confront him. After all, they've worked for years.

Linda Byron: "How can you take money from people and not do the work?"

Taufa: "We just kind of behind, we will get over there."

Byron: "You owe thousands, how can you do this to people?"

Taufa: "We are working on it. We're going to get back on there."

Taufa doesn't want to talk about his suspended registration or trail of victims.

Byron: "You know it's a crime to take money and not do the work?"

Taufa: "We just didn't have time to get over there. But we will get over there."

Byron: "We're going to be watching you."

Taufa: "OK."

Many of the victims tell us they have given up hope of getting their jobs done or all of their money back. They want to expose this man, and the system that's enabling him.

"Let's get his picture out there. Here's a man that's going to come to your house and tell you he's going to do all this stuff. He's going to take your money and he's going to go and apparently nothing happens to him," said Keelan.