PORT ORCHARD, Wash. -- An unlicensed landscape contractor accused of misusing federal bankruptcy court catches the attention of KIRO Team 7 Investigators.

Chris Halsne uncovers a long history of taking big money from victims, then failing to finish the job.

Port Orchard landscaper Brian Bashore tells KIRO Team 7 Investigators he's just having a run of bad financial luck. His customers and prosecutors charge that 'poor-me' pitch is part of a long-standing, disgraceful swindle.

Allen Tucker and Erwin Fontanilla both paid their hard-earned money for landscaping work last summer and got only disappointment in return.

Halsne: "So, you gave him $3,000 and he never showed up at all?"
Fontanilla: "Never showed up."
Halsne: "Not one lick of work?"
Fontinella: "No. Not even one piece of brick."
Halsne: "What do you think about that?"
Fontanilla: "It's a total scam."

Tucker, who just retired after 20 years in the military, adds “This is our first house. First time dealing with contractors or landscapers or anything. I got burned the first time.”

Each received a business card stamped Earth-Wise landscaping Licensed/Bonded/Insured.

The contractor who handed them the cards, Brian Bashore, is none of those things.

KIRO Team 7 Investigators found court records showing Bashore recently admitted owing more than 100 unhappy creditors between $100,000 and $500,000.

We caught up with the landscaper while he was getting gas for his truck after he failed to show up for a scheduled meeting with KIRO Team 7 Investigators

Halsne: "Can we talk about the folks you owe money to? When are you going to pay them back?"
Bashore: "I have arranged that. At the moment, I'm on my way to work so I really don't have time to talk."

This is not just a civil matter. Bashore is a wanted man with two felony "bad check" warrants in Kitsap County and a misdemeanor theft warrant in Pierce County. That criminal complaint says Bashore filed bankruptcy just a few hours before taking about $1,100 from Allen Tucker.

“I think what's going on, as far as I can tell is, he accepts money from people, doesn't or might start the work, might not. Probably not. Then, when he gets to a certain point, he files bankruptcy to try to keep people from coming after him,” says Tucker.

Federal court records show last year Bashore filed two Chapter 7's in a row, paying the $299 filing fee, then letting the cases expire. A half dozen cheated customers we contacted said Bashore used the word "bankruptcy" to his advantage.

Fontanilla told KIRO Team 7 Investigators, “He threatened me. He said if you're going to sue me, then I'm going to file bankruptcy. I said, 'Go ahead.'”

But if you think Bashore is just a guy that recently got into a little financial trouble, meet Bob Scheffler.

A decade ago, court records show, the retired Navy-man lost more than $30,000 when Bashore failed to properly build a large retaining wall.

Scheffler remembers, “He (Bashore) kept telling me all the time; 'Just a little bit more money is going to do this and it's going to be cash, You're getting at a discount. I'm getting at a discount'. Well. He got the whole discount. I got nothing.

Halsne: "You're a former Marine."
Bashore: "Correct."
Halsne: "A couple of these families you owe money to are hard working military families. Where's the honor in that?"
Bashore: "If you check the facts, you might get a different story on it. Thank you."

The Department of Labor and Industries recently fined Bashore $1,000 for working as an unlicensed contractor on yet another project in Tacoma.

Bashore tells KIRO Team 7 Investigators, he is no longer doing that and is trying to take care of that fine.