Charles Workman, pool contractor accused of bilking Minnesota families, now federally charged with wire fraud
MINNEAPOLIS -- The man accused of promising swimming pools and not finishing the job is now criminally indicted. It follows a months-long WCCO investigation.
A grand jury alleges Charles Workman devised a scheme to defraud people of their money with false promises. WCCO exposed that Workman took hundreds of thousands of dollars collectively from more than a dozen Minnesota families and abandoned the jobs.
The FBI began investigating Workman after we shared stories of people who had paid him with their life savings and never got the promised pool. Agents got statements from those families who are out tens of thousands of dollars. Now, the United States Attorney's Office will use that information to prosecute Workman.
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The 37-year-old pool contractor is facing federal wire fraud charges. According to the indictment, Workman -- through his company MN Crete Pools -- falsely told customers he'd secure a spot for them and build a swimming pool in exchange for a down payment.
Homeowners turned to WCCO after they paid Workman and never got the pool. We found some backyards ripped up with gaping holes left behind; others with work on promised pools abandoned or not started at all.
The indictment says Workman "regularly converted some or all of the customers' payments to his own use," using the money to pay child support, spending more than $18,000 at a casino and more than $6,000 on a horse and saddle. The indictment also says he knew he would not be able to complete most of the pool projects he started. And Workman gave excuses for the delayed work, fraudulently soliciting more than $750,000 in payments from customers.
Days after WCCO's original investigation, the Minnesota Attorney General's Office also took notice, and civilly sued Workman last August. In January, a judge ordered the contractor to pay more than a million dollars in restitution. The same amount in civil penalties, plus state court costs and fees. And Workman is banned from ever working in the construction industry in Minnesota again.
But it's the criminal charges homeowners have waited for. They want Workman held criminally accountable for taking their hard-earned money.