Orlando woman says hired contractor with fraudulent license number never finished job

ORLANDO, Fla. — An Orlando woman has a warning for residents after she said she was duped by an unlicensed contractor who she thought was legitimate.

After 20 years in her Orlando home, Amira Jalaff wanted some upgrades to her backyard, but said what happened to her was nothing short of a nightmare.

"Everything you see here is completely brand new," Jalaff said.

Jalaff had to bring in other workers to fix her backyard after she said Warley Sa, owner of High Impact Quality Services, never finished the job.

"Because he's a small company, I was trying to help him as a small company. But I think I made a big mistake," she said.

Jalaff said she thought Sa was a licensed contractor. The paperwork he gave her even had a license number.

But state insurance fraud investigators said Sa is not licensed, and that the number on the paperwork is fake.

Jalaff first contacted investigators after she said the work was more than a month overdue and her backyard was a mess.

She told investigators she had already paid more than $8,000 up front.

Jalaff said she had to hire licensed people to fix the paving, the balcony, the pool and the fence.

Sa's business was first registered in 2011. His Facebook page shows several posts about getting paving jobs since then.

9 Investigates learned that Sa is facing charges for contracting without a license and worker's compensation fraud, since investigators said he didn't have workers comp insurance for his crew.

Sa was arrested on Nov. 9, but he posted bail on the same day.

No one answered at Sa’s home when 9 investigates stopped by.

Jalaff said she hopes people will think twice before hiring him or anyone without verifying that they have a license.

"I want to let anybody out there know, please, just search the person first," she said.

Investigators said they don't know if Sa has other customers, and that it would be hard to track unless those clients come forward.

Authorities said Sa can't apply for permits in his name without a license.

Cox Media Group