By the time police laid criminal charges against Calgary contractor Alan Hrehirchuk, former employees and clients say he was taking weeks-long vacations, locking the doors to his office showroom to avoid angry tradespeople demanding payment, all while convincing new clients to hire him by showing them celebrity endorsements, including from the popular HGTV show The Property Brothers.
Hrehirchuk’s next court appearance is Sept. 11.
Since the announcement of charges on July 12, the Calgary Police Service says about a dozen new alleged victims of Hrehirchuk have come forward and the investigation continues. Police say further charges are possible.
Court documents show nine lawsuits were filed against Hrehirchuk’s company Envision Custom Renovations in 2023.
More alleged victims come forward
The civil cases are in their early stages in the court process and none of the allegations against Hrehirchuk have been proven in court.
CBC News gave Hrehirchuk the chance to respond to the allegations made against him in this story.
“My client denies the allegations and has taken my advice to not make a statement while the matter is before the courts,” wrote Cory Wilson in a statement provided to CBC News.
CBC News has spoken with two homeowners, Hrehirchuk’s former project manager and a subcontractor who detailed a fragile house of cards built by Hrehirchuk, which, by July, appears to have collapsed on the 53-year-old.
One couple, in their 60s, have been living in their basement after they say Hrehirchuk began work on their home but failed to pay the tradespeople and left the job unfinished.
That couple also says one night in the middle of their renovation disaster, they spotted their home on TV as Hrehirchuk promoted his renovation company.
Criminal charges
In July, Calgary police announced Hrehirchuk faced charges connected to allegations he forged subcontractor invoices and defrauded homeowner Carlos Camara and his wife, who spent more than $100,000 on work that was never done.
“It changed everything in terms of our immediate financial plans, for sure,” said Camara.
Camara and his wife did their research. After buying their first home last year, they interviewed three contractors.
The couple was impressed with Hrehirchuk’s Envision Custom Renovations, and his slick showroom and portfolio, which included a letter of endorsement from the Property Brothers after he appeared on a couple of episodes.
Scott Brothers Entertainment, the company behind the Property Brothers TV show, did not respond to a request for comment from CBC News.
Clients of Alan Hrehirchuk’s Envision Custom Renovations say he used his work on the Property Brothers HGTV show to bolster his legitimacy and would share copies of their endorsement as part of his portfolio. Scott Brothers Entertainment, the company behind the Property Brothers TV show, did not respond to a request for comment from CBC News. (Carlos Camara)
Camara hired Envision at the end of December, and says he signed a contract for a $170,000- full house renovation. The couple say they paid a $50,000 deposit and more than $50,000 in invoices over the next several months.
Some of the demolition work was done, says Camara, but when there was no progress made on the renovations, he called the city and says he discovered none of the required permits had been issued.
Camara started digging and discovered Google reviews posted by people who said they’d worked for Envision but hadn’t been paid.
Looking closely at one of the invoices, Camara noticed odd fonts and called the company which had supposedly issued the bill. They told him it was likely forged.
‘You never think you’re going to be a victim’
He then called the tradespeople named on the invoices he’d been paying. Only one company said they’d been paid by Envision, according to Camara, who then involved police.
The experience, says Camara, has been “extremely stressful” and changed how he feels about moving into his new home. The couple had to remortgage their condo and then sell it. They’re now living in a rental, unsure of where they’ll live in the fall.
“You never think you’re going to be a victim and then you are,” said Camara.
“I don’t look forward to moving anymore,” said Camara. “I just want somewhere to live and be done with this and eventually try to get some money back.”
Still, Camara and his wife say “the important thing is that this may help others avoid falling into the hands of people like Alan and Envision Custom Renovations.”
Couple living in basement
Holly Hamilton says she, her husband and two dogs have lived in their basement with no kitchen — just a fridge and a microwave — for the last two years.
Hamilton doesn’t want to say how much she’s lost but says it was “more money than we could afford to lose.”
Hamilton and her husband Steve Baekeland met with Hrehirchuk and hired Envision to renovate their home in 2021.
They paid a deposit and invoices.
The couple say they lived a full winter without siding or waterproofing. “The siding guys walked off the job because they hadn’t been paid,” said Hamilton. The roofers, who were from B.C., never showed up for the same reason, she explained.
One night, as they were living in their basement with no roof on their home, Hamilton was watching TV and spotted her own home on a television commercial.
A video promoting Envision Custom Renovations was posted on youtube in 2022. The home pictured here belongs to Holly Hamilton and her husband. The three people standing in front of it appear to be actors, according to Hamilton, who says she lost “more money than we could afford” to Hrehirchuk. (youtube.com/Envision Custom Renovations)
Two actors, around the same age as Hamilton and Baekeland, appeared in the video standing in front of Hamilton’s house
“He could have paid the guys the money he owed to finish my roof, instead he’s doing this commercial,” said Hamilton.
And, she says, he always seemed to be on holiday with his wife.
“We were taking turns sleeping so we can catch water while this guy’s on holidays in Palm Springs or golfing,” said Hamilton.
Hamilton says Hrehirchuk kept issuing invoices but nothing was getting done and “problems were building.”
Hamilton says when she’d confront Hrehirchuk, she says he’d blame the pandemic — supply and labour shortages. The couple say they were scared that if they broke their contract and fired Hrehirchuk, he’d sue them.
Several photos of Alan Hrehirchuk, left, and TV home renovation celebrities appear on his company’s Facebook page for Envision Custom Renovations Inc. He’s pictured here with Property Brothers Drew and Jonathan Scott. (Facebook/Envision Custom Home Renovations Inc.)
Like with Camara, Hamilton says Hrehirchuk used his connection to the Property Brothers to bolster his legitimacy.
“That ended up being just a great marketing tool for him,” said Hamilton. “He’s really milked that one, that’s for sure.”
Hamilton also began reaching out to the subcontractors whose work she’d been billed for.
She confirmed her suspicions when they told her they hadn’t been paid.
Hamilton says she was able to terminate the contract with Envision after receiving a call from a tradesman who said he hadn’t been paid and planned to put a lien on their home.
Project by project, Hamilton and her husband are now doing what they can on their own and saving money to pay trades to do what they can’t.
At the moment, her kitchen is being built. It’s the second time she’s paid for that.
Subcontractor steps in to help
Steve Valley with Kival Electric is one of the subcontractors whom Hamilton believed she was paying through Envision.
Valley says he stopped working with Envision in December but knew there were homeowners like the Hamiltons who paid for services they hadn’t received from him.
Not wanting to abandon anyone, Valley is now working with each homeowner to understand what they can afford and says he’ll “go from there.”
Maybe that means billing in stages, says Valley. Maybe it means not making homeowners pay twice — even if he didn’t receive his first payment.
“We will have our end done,” said Valley. “We can’t do anything about the other trades, but we’ll have our end done.”
Close the doors, manager told
Both Camara and Hamilton expressed deep concerns for trades workers. They both said they’d discovered unpaid subcontractors when contacting companies whose work they’d been invoiced for.
Peter Razniak, who was hired by Envision in December as a project manager, says the situation got so bad at Envision that Hrehirchuk told him to lock the doors to the showroom to escape angry tradespeople who were showing up, demanding to be paid.
“Al told us to just keep the doors closed so no one will come and bug him for money,” said Razniak.
Since the announcement of charges on July 12, the Calgary Police Service says about a dozen new alleged victims of Alan Hrehirchuk have come forward and the investigation continues. Police say further charges are possible. (youtube.com/Envision Custom Renovations)
Before being hired as a project manager, Razniak worked for Hrehirchuk for eight years as a painter.
He says there were times in the last two or three years when, as a subcontractor for Envision, he was paid late. But the money always came, which, Razniak says, is the reason he accepted the job as project manager when Hrehirchuk called him back in December.
‘When problems started’
Razniak believes Envision’s troubles began around 2020, when Hrehirchuk began expanding his business, moving into a large, impressive showroom.
Everything in there was “super high end,” says Razniak.
“When he grows, pretends to be a really big renovation company, that’s when problems started,” said Razniak.
As Hamilton also noted, Razniak said Hrehirchuk was often away on vacation with his wife.
One Friday, Hrehirchuk said he’d be gone for the next two weeks.
“Everybody was shocked because [there was] so much work to do,” said Razniak.
By May, Razniak said he hadn’t been paid in about six weeks and was missing bill payments.
“That was my family’s only income source so I reached a point where I was barely able to survive another month.”
Razniak went back to painting.
He says he’s been working with police.
“He has no feelings to others,” said Razniak. “He don’t care about anybody else. That’s what I’m learning the hard way.”
VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Whitecaps will begin their post-season campaign with a play-in game against the Timbers in Portland on Wednesday.
The ‘Caps (13-13-8) ended the regular season with a 2-1 loss to Real Salt Lake on Saturday and finished eighth in Major League Soccer’s Western Conference standings.
The eighth and ninth spots from each conference meet in a play-in game this week, with the winner going on to face the No. 1 seed in the first round of the playoffs.
Each eighth-place team was set to host the play-in game, but Vancouver announced Friday that its home stadium, B.C. Place, is not available, so the club will cede home-field advantage to Portland (12-11-11), the ninth-place team.
The ‘Caps and Timbers split their three-game series during regular-season play, with each side taking a win, a loss and a draw.
The first round of the MLS playoffs is set to begin next weekend.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 19, 2024.
SANDY, Utah (AP) — Diego Luna scored a tying goal in the 73rd minute and Real Salt Lake added another on an own goal for a 2-1 victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday night to set a single-season club record for points.
Real Salt Lake (16-7-11) secured the No. 3 spot in the Western Conference and will face Minnesota in the first round of the Major League Soccer playoffs. RSL reached 59 points this season, topping the 2012 team with 57.
Vancouver (13-13-8) will play the Portland Timbers on Wednesday in a wild-card game for a chance to play top-seeded LAFC.
Luna settled a long cross from Braian Ojeda before taking four touches to slot home a shot inside the far post for his eighth goal of the season.
RSL went ahead in the 83rd when Vancouver goalkeeper Isaac Boehmer misplayed a lofted ball that rolled into the back of the net.
Vancouver midfielder Ryan Gauld opened the scoring in the 58th to become the first player in club history to produce multiple seasons with at least 10 goals and 10 assists.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Juan Soto’s arrival last winter was supposed to be that move that pushed the New York Yankees back to the top.
They’re one step away.
Soto hit a three-run homer with two outs in the 10th inning and the Yankees advanced to their 41st World Series — and first in 15 years — by beating the Cleveland Guardians 5-2 in Game 5 of the AL Championship Series on Saturday night.
Baseball’s biggest brand is going back to October’s main stage.
Soto, who was acquired in a seven-player trade from San Diego in December, pushed the Bronx Bombers into position with one big swing.
This was why he came, for this moment and for so many more.
“We’re right where we belong,” said Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, who pulled off the deal for Soto.
The Yankees will try to win their 28th title against either the New York Mets or Los Angeles Dodgers. Game 6 of the NL Championship Series is on Sunday at Dodger Stadium.
In the third consecutive tight game in three nights at Progressive Field, Austin Wells walked with one out in the 10th and Alex Verdugo followed with a grounder to Guardians second baseman Andrés Giménez, whose soft toss to the bag was dropped by rookie shortstop Brayan Rocchio for an error.
Hunter Gaddis struck out Gleyber Torres and had Soto in a 1-2 count before New York’s stylish outfielder sent a shot over the wall in center. Soto danced down the first-base line and paused to celebrate with his teammates before circling the bases.
“I was just saying to myself, `You’re all over that guy. You’re all over that guy. He ain’t got anything,’” said Soto, who moved alongside his manager, Aaron Boone, as the only New York players to homer in an extra-inning, series-clinching win.
Luke Weaver got the final three outs with Lane Thomas flying out for the last one, which was caught by Soto.
“We get to play for a world championship,” Boone said. “That’s pretty sweet.”
The 25-year-old Soto is eligible for free agency this winter, and Yankees fans chanted “Re-sign Soto!” during the postgame festivities. He’s expected to get a contract upwards of $600 million, and his heroics in Game 5 may have raised his price.
Giancarlo Stanton hit a two-run homer and was named ALCS MVP as the Yankees took care of the Guardians in five games. It wasn’t easy.
New York won the first two at Yankee Stadium without much fanfare or any major drama. However, it was a different story in Cleveland as all three games at Progressive Field were nail-biters.
The Guardians rallied to win Game 3 on two, two-run homers in their last two at-bats, and the Yankees held on to win Game 4 after blowing a four-run lead.
“This was a rollercoaster and we were able to just keep punching back,” Stanton said. “We know there’s much more work to do and it’s only uphill from here and we got to get it done.”
Cleveland just didn’t have enough and a surprising season under first-year manager Stephen Vogt ended just short of a World Series. The franchise remains without a title since 1948, baseball’s current longest drought.
“There’s only one team that gets to win the last game of the year, and unfortunately it’s not going to be us,” Vogt said. “But we accomplished a lot as a group. We got better. We worked extremely hard. I couldn’t be more proud of this group. We just didn’t get quite as far as we wanted to.”
The Yankees are back in the World Series, back where their fans expect them to be every year.
The club’s 82-80, fourth-place finish in the AL East last season led to some “soul searching as an organization” during the winter, according to Boone, who has been widely criticized but is one of just three managers to take New York to playoffs in six of his first seven seasons.
While the team’s core stayed mostly intact, getting Soto in a blockbuster trade on Dec. 7 — New York sent five players to San Diego for the three-time All-Star — accelerated the team returning to title contender.
“That was a good day,” Boone said with a laugh before the game.
Stanton’s 446-foot rocket into the left-field bleachers tied it at 2 in the sixth and chased Tanner Bibee, who had struck out New York’s dangerous DH in his first two at-bats and held the Yankees scoreless for the first five innings.
It was Stanton’s fourth homer in this series — his third in three days — and his 16th in the postseason, moving him into fourth place on the club’s career list behind Bernie Williams (22), Derek Jeter (20) and Mickey Mantle (18).
Before the game, Boone was asked what makes Stanton so good.
“He can hit it harder than anyone, first of all,” Boone said. “So there’s the physical nature of what he does that’s different than just about everyone in the world.”
But Boone went on to compliment Stanton’s discipline at the plate, “his approach, his process, how he studies guys.”
“There’s something that he does when he gets familiarity with people on top of being very physically gifted,” Boone said.
The Guardians took a 2-0 lead in the fifth off Carlos Rodón on Steven Kwan’s RBI single with two outs. But Cleveland missed a big chance for more, leaving the bases loaded when Lane Thomas grounded out on the first pitch to him from Mark Leiter Jr.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Yankees: LHP Nestor Cortes (elbow strain) had another successful live batting practice session. The reliever remains on track to join the Yankees on their World Series roster. Boone said Cortes would throw again early next week. Cortes went 9-10 with a 3.77 ERA in 30 starts.
