Dennis and Julie Wanner's dream to build their new home is on indefinite hold. They have nothing to show for their $57,000 loan to buy building supplies.

KING 5's Jesse Jones asked: "Have you received anything?"

Dennis Wanner: "No, nothing."

Jones: "Not one board of wood?"

Wanner: "Nothing but empty promises."

Tim Wickstrom is the man who took the money. Wickstrom, of Maple Valley, is a building supplier and leader of a ministry, a person the Wanners say worked his faith - for profit.

"Tim came across like a Christian guy, a good honest guy," said Wanner.

The Wanners were introduced to Wickstrom by their lender. It was right after Hurricane Katrina and Wickstrom promised he could work a miracle by bringing in building materials that were in big demand but in short supply.

"He totally pulled the wool over our eyes" said Dennis.

"You feel angry being took, ripped off," said Bruce Farr, who ordered $16,000 worth of supplies from Wickstrom for his Maple Valley home.

Farr checked references and thought everything was fine until Wickstrom didn't deliver on $10,000 worth of supplies.

"Since that time I've run into many other people who've had the same problem with him… businesses, individuals all the same thing. Give him money for materials and he doesn't deliver," said Farr.

In fact, the KING 5 Investigators found more than 35 customers, businesses and investors in King, Snohomish and Whatcom counties owed more than $400,000.

"I never met anyone who liked what we did. Anybody who came in there was yelling at us," said Darin Gardner, who worked for Wickstrom out of a site in Maple Valley. He says angry customers and businesses tried to contact Wickstrom every day, but he ignored them.

"They would screen calls and they would let them ring out," said Gardner.

After avoiding us for days, we found Wickstrom at his home.

KING

Tim Wickstrom

Jesse Jones: "People are owed tens of thousands of dollars are you going to pay them back?"

Tim Wickstrom: "I was the manager of the company, what do you mean pay them back? I told you that I didn't want to talk to you guys."

Wickstrom claims the business wasn't his and he was doing what he was told.

Jones: "What do you have to say about the Wanners? They gave you $57,000."

Wickstrom: "Go talk to the guy in charge."

He claims another man owns the company.

Wickstrom: "I didn't take any checks."

Jones: "There's nothing in your name at all."

Wickstrom: "There's nothing in my name at all, of course not."

But that's not true. State documents show Wickstrom owns the company in a partnership with his father. Bank records list his name.

"It appears to me that he had complete control and directed what was going on with this company," says attorney Thomas McGrath.

McGrath has been chasing Wickstrom for months for a $31,000 order never delivered.

McGrath says Wickstrom's business bank records, which he subpeonaed, show how company money was spent, from paying rent on his home, to buying groceries, to 7-11, and more.

"Mariner's game tickets, some $400, the Gap, $49 to Starbucks in one day," said McGrath.

But Wickstrom said, "None of the money was spent by me."

The business was sinking. Bills went unpaid, and Wickstrom went looking for investors.

He showed balance sheets claiming CB Supply had more than $1 million of work in progress.

Former employee Darin Gardner tells a different story.

"It was the same spiel… this is what we do… millions of dollars and 300 to 500 homes per year and we were building one a week," said Gardner.

Loans went unpaid, investors never got a dime, so Wickstrom called it quits and filed for bankruptcy protection.

He owes $1.3 million in back taxes, and he's caught the attention of the Department of Justice.

That's not good news for victims, since the government is among the first in line for money owed.

"It doesn't make sense to us. We are good, honest people and had good, honest intentions and I don't know how he lives with himself," said Dennis Wanner.

The Snohomish County Sheriff's Department has finished its theft and fraud investigation of Wickstrom and has recommended charges. The case is now in the hands of prosecutors and the Department of Justice investigation is still open over the bankruptcy claim and back-taxes.

Wickstrom's father, John Wickstrom, denies having anything to do with the company.

His story: He was just helping his son.

The problem: John's name is on the state's paperwork along with Tim's. So he's been sued by creditors and has faced tax warrants. That's on top of the thousands of dollars he loaned his son. In fact, John said he's been forced to sell off some of his land to help pay everyone off.

The two haven't spoken in well over a year.

Update:

Snohomish County has charged Wickstrom with operating a business without a license, which is a felony.

He's also feeling the heat from home.  Tim's brother told us that his father, John, co-signed loans and spent tens of thousands of dollars to help Tim get his business going.  However, when Tim stopped paying the taxes and bills, creditors and the government came after his father. In turn, John Wickstrom was forced to sell the family ranch.

He passed away in June while still making Tim's payments.

We tried to talk to tim about his father after a court hearing, he did everything he could to avoid our cameras, including breaking out in a full sprint for two blocks.

We've learned the U.S. trustee is now challenging Wickstrom's bankruptcy. The hearing will be held in January.