4 days ago
Builder promised ‘dream pools,' but bilked customers out of $600K, AL officials say
An Alabama-based contractor promised to build beautiful pools for multiple customers, but after receiving their deposits, he never returned to finish the jobs, officials said.
Now, Gregory Kirk is sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to multiple property crimes in which he stole more than $600,000 from customers, the Alabama Attorney General's Office said in a June 3 news release.
McClatchy News reached out to Pristine Pools LLC on June 6 but did not receive an immediate response.
According to court records, Kirk ran pool construction businesses in Madison County under different names, WHNT reported.
He filed for bankruptcy after receiving thousands of dollars for projects and then opened another similar business under a different name, without finishing previous projects, the outlet reported.
'Several consumers entrusted Kirk with large sums of money, hoping to build their dream pools. Instead, they were met with heartbreak,' Attorney General Steve Marshall said in the release. 'He betrayed their trust, deceived them, and stole their hard-earned savings.'
Officials said he forged a contractor's license, used a fake building permit and fraudulently used a customer's credit card.
Madison County is about a 110-mile drive northeast from Birmingham.
