The FDLE said Olympus Pools owner James Staten stole $1.5 million from his customers between 2020 and 2021 and used the money to fund a high-roller lifestyle.
FDLE Special Agent in Charge Mark Brutnell said Staten spent between $50,000 and $70,000 every month on trips and jewelry and paid more than $50,000 for Super Bowl tickets.
“We were able to determine Staten moved money from his business accounts to his personal accounts to live a very lavish lifestyle,” Brutnell said.
Attorney General Ashley Moody said Staten knew the company was in trouble, but he continued to take money for pools he didn’t plan to finish.
“The perpetrator kept going after more and more money and digging more holes and leaving more sites abandoned,” Moody said.
Staten remains in the Pasco County Jail after a judge denied his attorney’s motion to lower the $2.8 million bond during his first appearance in court Tuesday afternoon. He faces 34 counts of various fraud and grand theft charges.
Several Olympus customers told ABC Action News they waited a long time for criminal charges in the case.
One of them, Mike Hanke, said he was left with three holes and a bunch of trash in his backyard when Olympus Pools shut down in 2021. Hanke said he had to spend an additional $20,000 over and above the original contract to get another contractor to finish the job.
Hanke said he’d like to see Staten serve a long prison sentence for what he put his customers through.
“I personally think it should be 20 years plus," Hanke said.
The criminal case is based on 33 customers. Investigators said many were victimized twice when unpaid subcontractors filed liens against their homes.
Staten’s attorney Rick Escobar, said he believes his client is not guilty of anything more than making bad business decisions. Escobar said he will ask for a hearing to lower Staten's bond and to get his client out of jail.
