Tampa pool company owner arrested for fraud after spending $1.5 million of victims' money, officials say

TAMPA, Fla. - The owner of a Tampa-based pool company was arrested after law enforcement discovered that he was defrauding his customers.

James Ivan Staten, Jr. used over $1.5 million from his victims for his personal life since 2020, according to Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) Tampa Special Agent in Charge Mark Brutnell.

Officials say Staten would accept large payments for work and never follow through. He would keep the money and stop responding to his customers. Many customers in Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco and Polk counties were left with no pools and destroyed yards.

FDLE and Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office began their investigation into Olympus Pools after they received numerous complaints about Staten and his company in October 2021.

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"Agents identified around 140 victims in Hillsborough, Pasco, Polk, Manatee, Sarasota and Pinellas counties. These victims trusted James Staten to build their dream pool, some paying in full using their entire life savings or retirement funds. But few pools were ever completed," explained Brutnell. 

The investigative team focused on 31 of the 140 victims. Investigators say that they all had similarities and depicted the same fraudulent scheme.

James Ivan Staten, Jr. was arrested after law enforcement says he defrauded his customers. Courtesy: Hillsborough County Sheriffs Office

"So how did the scheme work? A homeowner would meet with a sales rep for Olympus Pools to start the process of building their dream pool. Olympus Pools would require usually a 10% down payment, or if the unsuspecting customer was going to pay in full, they would get a discount rate with the assurances of a much quicker timeline of completion," shared Brutnell.

But, instead of getting their pools, customers got abandoned job sites and destroyed backyards, according to officials. Customers paid Staten tens of thousands of dollars.

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Authorities say that Staten would hire subcontractors to do the work after receiving a contract to build a pool but, in many cases, failed to pay subcontractors. Officials say subcontractors would record valid construction liens on the homeowner's properties. 

Investigators discovered that Staten used the stolen money to take vacations and pay for private school. Officials even say that the company owner used the money to spend $53,000 on Super Bowl LV tickets.

"For many people, finally saving enough money to buy a pool takes years of dreaming and hard work, but for the victimized customers of Olympus Pools, their dream turned into a nightmare," said Attorney General Ashley Moody.

Attorney General Ashley Moody’s Office of Statewide Prosecution is filing criminal charges against Staten.

FOX 13 spoke with Staten’s attorney, Rick Escobar, who said he got the case just last week.

"I want the public not to rush to judgment," Escobar said. "Certainly listen: We all feel for all of these homeowners that have lost a great deal of money in their contracts to build pools. But right now, it's way too early to rush to judgment that somehow our client did this intentionally. I think that at the end of the day, you're going to see that this was not an intentional act, but more probably, you know, dealing with the fact that the company wasn't being run as it should have run."

Escobar told FOX 13 that Olympus Pools did declare for bankruptcy, and Staten lost his license to build pools. 

"The one thing that I think that the attorney general and law enforcement in this particular case – that they can't run away from – is that individuals that run a business and run a business poorly does not equate to criminal intent. If that were the case, there would be no need for bankruptcies," Escobar said. 

Staten was charged with counts of aggravated white-collar crime, organized scheme to defraud, grand theft, misapplication of construction funds and construction fraud, which are all felonies, according to officials.