PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A Delaware County contractor accused of ripping off clients for years was back in court this week after being arrested while out on bail for similar offenses.
George Cook, 44, of Holmes, a home improvement contractor who operates under the business name GC’s Contracting, is accused of stealing tens of thousands of dollars from his clients. Authorities said he took money from them but skipped out on a number of jobs.
Darby Borough Police Chief Joseph Gabe said this is an ongoing theme for Cook, who not only has priors for these types of scams but several open cases in the county, one of the most recent being charges of theft and receiving stolen property.
He was arrested in mid-July while out on bail for a previous case. He appeared in court the morning of Aug. 4 for a minutes-long pre-trial hearing.
“People are hiring him, and what he’s doing is he’ll take money from you for payment and never come back,” said Gabe.
Cook posted 10% of his $10,000 bail on July 21, a number Gabe said is just too low.
“There are victims who continue to be impacted by these crimes. The safety of our community and the rights of victims must be prioritized,” said Gabe. “We respect the court's role, but we strongly believe that repeat offenders should be held accountable through appropriate bail conditions that reflect the seriousness of their actions and their risk to the public.”
Gabe said Cook found his victims throughout the community, even advertising at a church.
“We notified a church to let them know our concerns with him being in their church bulletin and him preying on parishioners from that church,” he said.
“He was trying to scam me so bad, he just kept saying he was on the way to bring us our deposit back and then he would block our number for a couple days. This went on for about two weeks,” said Joe Mattei with Morton Property Construction, which hired Cook for a subcontracting job he never did.
He said if his company could be taken advantage of, he’s not surprised that nearly a dozen others are alleging the same thing happened to them.
“I sent him demand letters from my lawyer and he gave me most of the money back,” said Mattei.
Cook’s fiancee, Keisha Guillory, said Cook wants to make things right.
“It’s no way he can do anything at this time because he’s locked up. So it’s not like the people that want to get their jobs finished can get them done because there is no possible way if he’s locked up, or if they want their money back, how can he get their money back if he can’t come out to make the money?” she asked.
Cook, who is currently in jail, is due back in court in late August, when a judge will decide whether to consolidate all of the cases against him.