A pool shop owner with a business in Slatington, faces 75 charges after police say he deceived clients out of $500,000.
According to the affidavit of probable cause filed by Northampton County Detective Paul Romanic in the case against Roger Kornfeind:
The Northampton County District Attorney’s Office was contacted by one of the victims who had concerns about the operations of Hydro Dynamic pools and its owner, Kornfeind, 58, of Bethlehem.
The victim indicated he knew of at least 10 people whom he believed had been defrauded and believed Kornfeind’s behavior under the business of Hydro Dynamic Pools was criminal activity.
Romanic researched Hydro Dynamic Pools and noted there are three locations for the business; one on the 600 block of Main Street in Slatington, one in Pen Argyl, and one in Oley.
Romanic spoke with a victim who said there is a Facebook page with a closed group of people who believe they are victims of Kornfeind.
In another instance, Romanic spoke with a woman who said she and her husband entered into an agreement with Kornfeind and Hydro Dynamic Pools of Pen Argyl on July 3, 2018, to purchase a pool. They provided initial funds in the amount of $14,840 to Kornfeind for the pool, and that he advised them he had a deal on a heater for the pool and they gave him an additional $5,000 for the heater, but he never installed the pool nor did he deliver any of the materials for the pool.
Similar incidents took place from the summer of 2018 up to this month and involves at least 26 customers.
Kornfeind faces charges on 26 counts each of theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen property, and home improvement fraud.
He is currently incarcerated in the Northampton County Prison in lieu of $250,000, 10% bail, and scheduled to have a preliminary hearing Feb. 8 before District Judge Alicia Rose Zito of Bangor.
A swimming pool and hot tub contractor is accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from more than two dozen Lehigh Valley residents who paid for dream additions to their back yards but were left with little more than holes in the ground.
Northampton County District Attorney Terry Houck announced charges Tuesday against Roger Kornfeind, 58, of the 2800 block Linden Street in Bethlehem, including about two dozen counts each of theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen property and home improvement fraud.
Kornfeind turned himself in Tuesday morning at the office of District Judge Alicia Zito where he was arraigned and held under $250,000 bail, according to court records. The alleged crimes, all felonies, each carry a maximum sentence of seven years in prison and a $15,000 fine.
Kornfeind’s attorney, Philip Lauer, could not be reached Tuesday.
Houck said Kornfeind allegedly scammed homeowners across eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey by entering contracts to build swimming pools or install hot tubs, taking between $2,000 and $41,000 from each. In some cases, according to Houck, Kornfeind’s company, Hydro Dynamic Pools with locations in Pen Argyl, Slatington and Oley, installed pools with shoddy workmanship, did incomplete work or did no work at all.
A charging document detailing the allegations describes dozens of interactions between Kornfeind and customers from 2018 to October in which he asked for down payments of thousands of dollars and later told the buyers they needed to make even larger additional payments for delivery or installation work to begin.
“In some instances, the victims were left with nothing more than a hole in their yards or some individually delivered pool parts,” Houck said.
The charging document describes complaints by customers that they received the wrong size or type of pool, damaged parts and that workers showed up sporadically to work on pools and in many cases left parts partially assembled and unpacked in their yards.
When clients demanded refunds, Kornfeind told them he would issue a refund or that the check was in the mail, but never returned the money, Houck said.
The case stemmed from complaints received by the district attorney’s office and was investigated by county detectives with permission from authorities in Lehigh and Berks counties to prosecute allegations by residents of those counties in Northampton County Court.
Northampton County Detective Paul Romanic wrote that he was contacted by a former police officer with experience investigating fraud who reported concerns about Hydro Dynamic Pools and Kornfeind. He told Romanic that he knew of at least 10 people he believed had been defrauded by Kornfeind.
The former officer told the detective that a private Facebook group existed for people who believe they are victims of fraud by Kornfeind. The Facebook group was started by a Saylorsburg resident who paid $20,000 to Hydro Dynamic Pools for a pool that was never delivered.
Houck said it is likely there are other victims and expected his office would receive additional complaints now that the charges against Kornfeind are public. Federal bankruptcy court records show Kornfeind has filed bankruptcy twice, in 2015 and 2019.