David Bunkley said it happened after a devastating row home fire in the city's Germantown section that started in a neighboring property.
"November 28, coldest day of the year," said Bunkley.
Bunkley said he watched the fire gut his home just days after Thanksgiving in 2023. It left him with a total loss.
He told the investigative team that as the firefighters wrapped up, Kareem Greenwood, of SOS Restoration, approached him on the scene as he was trying to come to grips with what unfolded.
Bunkley said, at the time, Greenwood seemed to be a lifeline in a desperate time of need.
"He's standing there, he said he could board it up for me. I said, I had to tell him, 'OK, go ahead and board it up,'" he said.
And when it came time to do repairs, Bunkley said Greenwood was there again, just as he finalized his insurance claim.
"He said, 'The work is already started. We pulled permits. I've got people working,'" recalled Bunkley.
Bunkley said he felt under pressure, and he signed a contract with SOS Restoration for a total rebuild of the Chew Avenue home.
The contracted work included framing, electrical, plumbing, inside finishes, among other things.
"He starts doing repairs. He goes in, he demos the inside of the house," he said.
The investigative team first met Bunkley this past May when he came to us for help because he should have been back in the home by then.
When we visited, charred wood and a no trespassing sign remained outside. The inside of the home was still too dangerous for us to enter.
"Sink, tub, kitchen sink, washer, dryer, freezers, everything's gone. Walls, I mean, nothing's left in the house," said Bunkley.
Bunkley said Greenwood told him that in order to complete the work fast, he needed to sign over the insurance checks that totaled more than $150,000.
And according to Bunkley, that is when Greenwood never returned.
"I text messaged him up until the point where I knew I wasn't gonna get any response from him. He never responds," said Bunkley.
We wanted to find out what happened to Mr. Bunkley's money and why, two years late,r work was not completed on the home. So, we tracked down Greenwood not once, but twice at court on an unrelated matter.
The first time, he ran and hid his face from our camera when we asked him questions.
The second time, he was in court in Center City, again on an unrelated matter. He told us Bunkley should take him to civil court.
"What happened to all the money that you took from Mr. Bunkley?" we asked.
"See me in civil court. I did not take any money," Greenwood responded.
The investigative team found SOS Restoration's home improvement license to do work in Philadelphia lapsed in 2020.
Licensing and Inspection also show Greenwood never pulled permits to work on the home. And court records also show he is no stranger to the law.
According to court records, Greenwood spent time behind bars two decades ago for a felony charge of corrupt organizations for his low-level role in a bank check fraud ring.
Greenwood also pleaded guilty to a federal firearms charge in 2011 and was sentenced to nearly five years.
"See me in civil court. That's this is the court of public opinion, it's not the court of the question," said Greenwood.
"I want to get your opinion," said Action News.
Bunkley has since filed a police report and hopes the law catches up with Greenwood again. But now, he is slowly trying to rebuild his home and start over.
"I will do whatever I can to get what I can get," said Bunkley.
Experts warn that homeowners should never sign over an insurance check directly to a contractor and pay for work in installments, not all up front, to ensure work is being done and correctly.
In Bunkley's case, his insurance adjuster also warned Bunkley against signing over the entire check.
You should also check to see if the contractor is licensed.
You can do that with the Pennsylvania Attorney General's office, and the City of Philadelphia if that is where the work is being done before signing a contract.