From blankets and bubble wrap to fully equipped trucks and insurance cover, his company, Bustamove Removals, was supposedly an industry leader in making the dreaded house move as pain-free as possible.

But Boyce has now been busted in Parramatta Local Court, with a magistrate convicting him of having conned a long list of clients. In each case, he fled with their money – and sometimes their belongings – never to be seen again. He has been ordered to pay more than $107,000 in fines, costs and compensation.

NSW Fair Trading Commissioner Rod Stowe welcomed the outcome, labelling Boyce's actions "outrageous". He urged consumers to avoid similar future traps by conducting simple online searches that often reveal a range of "adverse data" about rogue operators.

Prior to his prosecution, Boyce had already been exposed as a serial offender with Fair Trading having posted two separate public warnings that he was accepting payment for removalist services without properly providing them.

After those alerts were issued, he ditched his registered "Bustamove" business name and continued to run the operation under the unregistered name, Interstate Relocation Specialists (IRS).

While trading under the IRS banner, Boyce even used an Australian Business Number belonging to another Christopher Boyce in Queensland, who operates an electrical contracting company.

"I only found out through a third party," the Queensland Boyce told Fairfax Media last week. "The other Chris Boyce had taken a substantial deposit from them and never showed up. When they tried to track him down, they looked up his ABN – which turned out to be mine."

In August last year, Judy Webster paid Boyce almost $13,500 to transport one 40 foot and six 20 foot containers of furniture and household belongings, by rail, between the Sunshine Coast and North Queensland.

"The containers had been sitting in a storage yard for seven years," she told Fairfax Media last week. "They had to be moved and so he was paid to pick them up in a truck, put them on the rail and send them up to Townsville and have them delivered to our property."

She added: "We had to take out a loan to pay him. He took the money and then never came anywhere near us."

Ms Webster said a "long list of excuses" followed. "Initially it didn't happen because it was the school holidays and the rail was booked out. So we waited a few more days. Then it was the storms – which his trucks couldn't get through. Later on, the truck then broke down. Then he got sick. Then he had a sore back. Then he just disappeared."

Faced with a deadline to move the containers, Ms Webster had no choice but to borrow another $14,000 to get someone else to do the job. She is still repaying the loan.

She is one of 10 consumers who assisted NSW Fair Trading in its prosecution – which led to Boyce being convicted of 16 Australian Consumer Law offences. However, it remains to be seen whether or not Boyce will repay his victims, as ordered by the court.

Those clients had all paid to move goods between NSW, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and the ACT. In many cases, he simply failed to show. In other instances, items vanished or were damaged, full refunds were promised but never eventuated and some victims suffered additional loss due to other related bookings that depended on promised delivery times.

"The things you learn," said Jeremy Ducklin who in June last year, paid Bustamove $1760 to transport his partner's belongings from Brisbane to Sydney.

"We went online to find a quote. His firm was the first listing on Google. It wasn't a particularly cheap deal but, unfortunately, it was the one we went with."

Mr Ducklin said after everything was packed and ready to go, nobody turned up on the due date.

"We rang and rang, no answer. Then later that evening, I finally got hold of him. He blamed the 'no show' on a burst tyre," he said.

Following a litany of excuses over several days, Mr Ducklin returned to the internet and looked up Boyce's name. "That was when I knew I was in trouble," he said, adding: "I never now deal with anyone without checking them out online first."

Mr Ducklin later engaged another firm to complete the job. "On reflection, we are lucky," he said, adding: "Imagine being a young couple, moving interstate, first home and coming across someone like this. It's the stuff of nightmares."