“contracter” Stole $4000 From My Parents Who Was Supposed To Do Install Gates And Railings In The Front Of Our House

Location: Queens, NYC - will try to give the best summary that I can

My parents hired a man to do some work in our front yard which involved replacing the old fence with brick posts, new gates/railings and placing pavers in the driveway. Parts of the pavement was also redone after removing the old fence, so in total we were charged $16000. $12000 went towards the brick work and pavers, and the remaining $4000 was supposed to be for the railings/gates for the driveway and front entrance. The guys that came to do all of the work seemed like he just found them in a parking lot at a Home Depot and were not workers of his business (if he actually has an official one), but I digress. Most of it was completed between Sept-Dec 2024. Towards the end of the year was when the guy asked us for the $4000 to complete the gates and my parents agreed. Since then he has never returned to do the remainder of the work. My parents have called and messaged repeatedly for the past eight months for an ETA until eventually they got fed up and demanded the money back. He always gives the same response that he’s going to the hospital to see someone or he will come in two days to drop of the money. We are now looking to file a small claim in the civil court. We have screenshots of the conversation between my mother and him for the course of these past months, can show banks statements for when the money was withdrawn, and have pictures of our front yard. Unfortunately, my parents did not get an invoice for the work and they paid in cash. I was confused about this since they have always followed the usual protocol of doings things the right way when it comes to renovations, but nonetheless this is the situation we are currently. They said that he seemed trustworthy at the time, and to be fair the work that was completed came out fine. We also reached out to one of his old workers who stated that he never got paid for the projects he was on, and this guy has done the same thing to other people’s houses where the work was left unfinished for an unreasonably long time. I would really appreciate if anyone can provide advice on how to best prepare to take action on this. It has been a stressful situation for my parents and I am hoping to make this process as smooth as possible. I know it’s more difficult than it should be had they gotten invoice and stuff in the beginning, but any suggestions or assistance will be helpful