Property Network Ltd. has closed shop owing what could be a sizable amount of money to area rental property owners, leaving clients, renters and vacationers in a bind as officials investigate the issue as a civil case.

And owner Robert M. Smith is nowhere to be found.

"He closed the office, laid everybody off and off he went," said Christine Giron, whose vacation rental at Kona Pacific condominium in Kailua-Kona had been managed by Property Network since 2006. "He's definitely off of the island. Possibly he's left the country. Nobody really knows where he is."

Giron, who resides in Tacoma, Wash., said Property Network owes her between $4,500 and $5,000 in money paid by tenants who have rented her property. Giron hasn't received a payment from Property Network since December.

According to Giron, the company had at least 140 clients in the area.

"What a perfect scenario. He probably owed small amounts like $5,000 or less to a lot of people," Giron said. "If you take those small amounts and multiply it by the 140 people or 150 people that I believe he managed properties for — that's a lot of money."

Although a sizable amount of money is unaccounted for, officials say that no criminal investigation is pending and it is likely that the matter will be investigated as a civil case because the company was operating legitimately in the state and the issue is essentially a contractual dispute.

Robert Smith and Dennise M. Smith opened Property Network in June 1991 in Alii Sunset Plaza. The brokerage company, which dissolved March 1, dealt with sales, rentals, leasing and exchanges of residential, investment and commercial properties.

Some of the calls to four known numbers listed for the company and the Smiths found the numbers to be disconnected. No one answered at other numbers listed and voicemail boxes were full and unable to take messages. The company's Web site had been shut down.

Jo Ann Uchida, a complaints enforcement officer with the Regulated Industries Complaint Office, a division of the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, said complaints have been received by the state regarding Property Network and an investigation is pending.

RICO deals solely with civil cases, not criminal cases, she said.

Hawai'i County prosecutors contacted on the Property Network issue would not comment and expressed no knowledge of any activity, civil or criminal.

Capt. Paul Kealoha with the criminal investigation section of the Hawai'i Police Department said he hasn't seen any reports filed concerning Property Network Ltd. He added that the case would most likely be a civil matter unless investigation turns up criminal activity such as fraud or a scam.

Kona attorney Joseph Fagundes said if an investigation reveals that funds remained in a trust account, the matter is a civil proceeding. However, if the money is converted to a different account, it then becomes theft, a criminal offense.

Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Dale Ross Yamada said that the county Office of the Prosecuting Attorney does not have any cases concerning Property Network Ltd. or its owners.

Laura Harlak, an executive officer with the Kona Board of Realtors, said Wednesday that Property Network Ltd. was no longer a member.

Vivian Landrum, executive director for the Kona-Kohala Chamber of Commerce, said that Property Network Ltd. was not a chamber member.

However, she said, "It seems they were trying to let everyone know what was going on and were trying to solve everything before they closed." She said that's the information she has received from people who have contacted her about the issue.

Landrum said she has not come across similar incidents on the island.

In January, Don Burner, of Spokane, Wash., set up what might be a final vacation for his parents, who are in their late 80s. When he called to confirm the accommodations, which began Saturday, he found that no calls were being answered by Property Network Ltd. and the company's Web site had been shut down.

Brunner said that he paid Property Network $1,843.23 on Jan. 17 with his credit card for a vacation condominium. He notified the credit card company of the issue on Tuesday and the company is working to recoup the lost money.

After tracking down the owner of the vacation property, who then had to find the rental agreement between Property Network and Brunner, he learned that he would have to pay for the accommodations again upon arrival.

"Here in Washington state, any money that is collected to be transferred to another person like that is supposed to be put in to a trust account," he said. "Why the money's not available or where it went I do not know ... That money shouldn't have been able to be secured or collected by anyone other than the owner, leading me to believe that he commingled the money we put down for the condominium with his own money.

"Quite frankly this could very well be one of the last vacations (his parents) take together in Hawaii," Brunner said. "If it weren't for that fact I would say I wouldn't be going to Hawaii ... How many people are heading out there thinking they have accommodations when they really don't?"

The only contact that Christine Giron has had with Property Network was a letter sent by Robert Smith on Feb. 15 notifying her of the closure.

In the letter, Smith wrote that he would be reconciling accounts and dispersing funds and directed owners and customers not to contact former employees but to contact him. However, he left no means for contacting him.

"Nobody got any money in January, February and March and the letter said that money would not be disbursed until 60 days after March 31," Giron said. "That means nobody would see any money until June at the earliest — if anyone ever sees any of it."

Property Network had one complaint filed against it since 1991 with the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs in 2006.

A tenant who was not given notice in a timely manner to vacate a residence that was no longer managed by the company filed a complaint that resulted in $1,500 in fines to the state's Real Estate Commission and another $1,625.68 in restitution to the tenant for the cost of having to rent a new property.

Property Network Ltd. also didn't renew its accreditation that lapsed Feb. 6 with the Better Business Bureau.

While the state investigates Property Network, Giron can only hope that Robert Smith will disburse the money owed as he wrote in his Feb. 16 letter.

"I have people in my unit right now. They had paid for it in full to Property Network Ltd. and I'm never going to see a dime of that, but I can't just kick them out," Giron said, adding, "Isn't it historically in the United States that if somebody steals money from somebody else in this country it is considered a crime and acted upon as a criminal case?"