Varindaer Sandhu was last seen on December 24 before the restaurant closed for 11 days over Christmas and the new year.

Although a sign on the window claimed the Bultje Street store would reopen on January 5, it remained closed and when the owners of the premises Quest investigated, they found it had been cleaned out.

It has since emerged that Mr Sandhu owed more than $6000 to a local business that built him a trailer while a pest control expert is out more than $800 because of the restaurant owner's schemes.

Quest property manager Steve Hornby said a few things about the situation didn't seem right but it was when the business failed to reopen on Monday that alarm bells began to ring.

"They hadn't closed over Christmas in previous years so that was a bit unusual. Then the tarpaulins began to fall down and you could see everything had been removed.

"Our lawyers tried to contact the owners to organise a site inspection and when that failed we got a locksmith in. There was nothing left inside."

Mr Hornby said there had been no contact from Mr Sandhu to cancel his lease.

He said a different department of Quest dealt with leasing and rent so he wasn't certain how much Mr Sandhu owed Quest but he believed money was owed on rent.

Just a day before his disappearance from Wylde Fire, Mr Sandhu picked up a brand new custom trailer that he had built by Caravans and Trailers. He paid a $1000 deposit by business cheque when he ordered the trailer on December 7, which cleared, and the remaining $6200 via a second business cheque when he took delivery, which bounced.

Caravans and Trailers proprietor Greg Day said he wouldn't normally accept cheques but being a local businessman, he gave Mr Sandhu the benefit of the doubt.

"I wasn't here when he first came in. He was looking for box trailer but that developed into a custom trailer. He said he had bought a lawnmower and he was looking to tow that," Mr Day said.

"He paid a $1000 deposit by business cheque and that cleared, otherwise we wouldn't have gone any further with it.

"He was insistent that he had to have it before Christmas. He picked it up on the 23rd of December, I stayed open late waiting for him and he handed me the cheque."

Mr Day said subsequent attempts to contact Mr Sandhu had failed but he had reported the issue to police.

"I'm out $6,200 but the police said I was one of the smaller ones."

Barry Heaslip of Inland Pest Management was owed $520 for services carried out for Mr Sandhu in 2014 but had been unsuccessful in catching the owner in his store.

He finally tracked him down in December and was told there was a problem with the payment of bills.

"I offered to hold our Christmas party there and cut the bill out of what it cost for the Christmas party.

"He was happy with that so we had our party just before Christmas and the bill was $360 or $380. He said rather than going back through the paperwork to balance everything out, he would write a cheque for the amount we were owed and I would pay my bill.

"I paid for dinner and his cheque bounced so instead of just being out $520, he got even more out of me."

Mr Heaslip said the $520 wouldn't make or break him but out of principle, he wants to see Mr Sandhu bought to justice so he can't do a similar thing in another town.

The Daily Liberal attempted to contact Mr Sandhu for comment but he did not answer his phone.

If you are owed money by Mr Sandhu, tell us your story. Contact the Daily Liberal on 68832900.