Michael Kovaleski Michael Kova Theft, Con Artist, Sob Stories Independence, Missouri

We hired Mike Kovaleski to install some stairs in our house. He was our lowest bid (out of three) and seemed very knowledgable and passionate about his work. He had some really nice ideas and we were confident in his being trustworthy, professional and geunine.

He came out to our house twice to brain storm with us and then said he would need $700.00 for supplies. He said he would return the following day with our supplies and begin his work.

Shortly after he left, my husband linked me to several articles about him on the internet that accused him of theft and fraud; there was even a video clip of him on the news. Dismayed, I said that we needed to cancel our check right away.

Unfortunately, Mike cashed the check at the branch location the following morning. We anxiously waited for him to show up with our supplies but he never did. We called him repeatedly and were constantly assured he was 'still getting everything loaded'.

The next day he came over with a small number of general construction supplies (worth no more than $100) and talked to us at length. He swore that all the negative press about him on the internet was the work of a vengeful ex-girlfriend. I did not believe him, but we wanted our supplies so we continued to play nice.

We told Mike that before we would allow him to start work on our house, we wanted proof of insurance. Every day for a week he promised to get it to us and never did.

That is when we said forget it, just bring us our supplies or we'll contact the media and the police. Mike would plan to meet with us every single day, and every day he had a new, wild excuse. His wife was in the hospital, he had to go to court for a custody hearing unexpectedly, he had trouble with his (brand new) truck.

Eventually we go sick of this and told him if he did not bring us our supplies and receipts by 6/17/14 that we would report him. He promised to bring them and that is the last we have heard from him. He never showed up with anything. We are in the process of preparing to file criminal charges.

Do not hire this man; he might seem charming and trustworthy but he will steal from you and he does not care about your circumstances. He knew that we have a disabled child, that we were grieving the loss of our son and could not afford to lose any money but he ripped us off anyway.