VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - Attorney General Mark Herring filed a lawsuit against Sea-Thru Windows, Inc. in the city's circuit court.
The lawsuit is trying to get money for customers of Sea-Thru because Herring says the company didn't complete some of its jobs and didn't honor a promised life time warranty. The lawsuit alleges the company violated the Virginia Consumer Protection Act.
Starting in January 2015, the owner, Jeffrey Pesich, began overspending and drove Sea-Thru into debt, according to the lawsuit. Pesich used loans, lines of credit, and business or consumer money improperly, the lawsuit says.
Despite the debt, the company kept advertising windows, but failed to sell the windows or install them as advertised. In addition when customers tried to call Sea-Thru to find out the status of their windows, they rarely got a call back, according to the lawsuit.
The company's offices closed around December 2016 and some customers lost out on money, in some cases thousands of dollars, the lawsuit says.
"Shady business dealings, violating the law, simply will not be tolerated," Herring said. "It's terrible that a business would take advantage of customers like that. Unfortunately, we have shady actors out there."
Several customers reached out to News 3, asking reporters to investigate the company. A July 2016 News 3 report found the company had been evicted from its Norfolk offices. A 72-year old Newport News woman and her daughter were worried they were never have their windows completed, but following the News 3 report the windows were installed.
Mugshot of Jeffrey Pesich, provided by Suffolk Police
At this time, Herring isn't seeking criminal charges, but a customer in Suffolk took the case a step further. She called police and Pesich was arrested last December. He faces trial in August on a felony construction fraud charge.
News 3 made numerous attempts to get a response from Pesich or a Sea-Thru representative, but a reporter was unable to get a response.
