Complaint Review: Darryl Cunningham

Signed a contract for excavation work and filling in of inground pool on 10/31/18. Work was to start on 11/4, with a deposit of $1000 due up front and the remaining $1100 due upon completion. On 11/2, contractor (who has a handyman license issues through the City of Morgantown, not a state contractors license, but business is registered through the state) texts and says the clutch went out on his dump truck, and he needs another $400 up front to fix and would take it off my total due.

At that point, I became suspicious as to why a contractor doesn't have $400 to fix a piece of equipment vital to their business. As I feared, he never showed up, I called repeatedly. Only after threatening further action did he answer to tell me he was supposedly hospitalized.

I asked when he anticipates starting, at time is of the essence and advised if he did not start the project outlined in the contract, I would need my deposit back, and now he won't answer. Am I correct in thinking that since he took the money and never delivered material nor started work and won't answer, this constitutes some sort of fraud or fraudulent schemes (as opposed to an unfinished or shoddy job, civil matter)https://services.oca.state.ma.us/hic/licdetails.aspx?txtSearchLN=87018