Kurt Wittin faces trial on fraud charges linked to past pool businesses, but CBC reports he is still selling container pools under a new company and name.
A Manitoba pool builder awaiting trial on fraud charges tied to past businesses is again marketing shipping-container pools through a newly incorporated company and a different public name, CBC News reports.
Kurt Wittin faces 26 counts of fraud over $5,000 and one count of obstruction of justice, with a trial expected to begin in December, according to the RCMP. CBC reported that his latest venture, Capitol Manufacturing, offers custom shipping-container pools starting at about $40,000 for a 20-foot model and has advertised on Facebook as recently as last week.
The case has drawn attention from former customers across Canada and the United States who say they paid tens of thousands of dollars for pools from Wittin’s previous companies and did not receive them. More than a dozen former customers have described complaints to CBC involving earlier businesses, though CBC said it had not spoken with any customers of Capitol Manufacturing.
CBC reported that Capitol Manufacturing’s public-facing contact is listed as Kurt Martin, and that it determined Martin is Wittin using his legal middle name as a surname. Manitoba corporate records cited by CBC show Wittin registered Capitol Steel & Manufacturing, also known as Capital Manufacturing & Fabrication, in October 2024, about a week before he was first charged with fraud.
The company was incorporated at the same address as several of Wittin’s past pool-related businesses, including Kustom Container Builders, Swiss Coast Pools, Seventeen Pools and 204 Container Homes & Pools, according to the report. Capitol Manufacturing’s website says it has more than 14 years of experience building container pools and references an HGTV appearance connected to a pool from Wittin’s former company, Seventeen Pools.
In a 2023 interview with CBC Marketplace at his facility in Headingley, Man., Wittin acknowledged that some customers had waited years for pools they expected within weeks. He also acknowledged offering to refund a customer if they did not speak to journalists about their experience. “Moving forward, I have to make it right,” Wittin told CBC at the time.
CBC said Wittin and his lawyer did not answer questions about why he was using another name or why he had started a similar business while issues involving earlier companies remained unresolved. His lawyer, Martin J. Pollock, told CBC that “because Mr. Wittin’s matters are before the court, he is unable to engage with the media.”
The next major step in the criminal case is expected in December, when Wittin’s trial is scheduled to begin.
Comments (0)