When Chad Ullery wanted to restore a 1984 Land Rover Defender, he hired a Gig Harbor company to perform the work. He had heard the company and its owner had a good reputation. Nearly eight years went by and Ullery claimed he was ripped off: The job remained unfinished and the vehicle had yet to be returned. Ullery sued Defenders Northwest, alleging that the vehicle restorer and parts supplier was paid more than $140,000 for a project it never intended to complete. In two practically identical lawsuits filed since 2022 in a California court, Ullery accused the company of selling his vehicle and later attempting to pass off a different and inferior one as his own. “This is absolute fraud on a scale that’s unbelievable,” Ullery said in an interview. Defenders Northwest and related defendants denied all allegations in a response filed in Orange County Superior Court — the California jurisdiction where the two legal complaints were lodged. An attorney representing the company declined to comment on the suits, citing the pending litigation. “Defenders Northwest is aware of the ongoing lawsuits involving a single vehicle,” company CEO Brian Hall, who’s a named defendant, said in a statement to The News Tribune. “We strongly deny the allegations of fraud and the false and damaging information being spread online. We are vigorously defending ourselves and our honor in the face of these allegations.” The company claimed that Ullery and others owed more than $60,000 for work performed on the Defender and in storage fees, including interest, according to court documents.