Cole Co. builder on probation, AG office still investigating

A Cole County builder accused of taking money from customers and not completing construction work may have more trouble coming.

In May, customers told ABC 17 News Ken Jinson, who also goes by Scott Jinson, charged them thousands of dollars for construction work he never completed. One customer said the work he did do was sub-par.

Jinson was arrested just hours after ABC 17 News talked to him.

Since our last update, the Cole County prosecutor said Jinson paid restitution in a 2011 lawsuit and he is on unsupervised probation.

But one customer claims he’s still out almost $20,000 as of Monday night.

Douglas Bledsoe paid Jinson to build a shed and remodel his basement, but it was never done.

Although there’s now a shed in Bledsoe’s backyard, it cost Bledsoe thousands of dollars to have another company come in to do the work.

Jinson maintains he is not ripping people off, even when ABC 17 News confronted him at his house back in May.

The Attorney General’s office said Monday it’s still investigating. And Bledsoe said he has been working with that office.

“I talked to them last Friday and they were writing to get an attorney general lawyer assigned to sign off on it and they could go for prosecution against him,” he said.

Bledsoe said he’s in contact with Jinson every day, but that Jinson never showed up to the AG’s office to give his side of the story.

“They had called and asked him to come in and talk with them about it and he just never did come in,” Bledsoe said. “So they said now they don’t have to worry about his side of the story. They’re just going to go on with the investigation and prosecution.”

“I’d like to get my money back so I can get the house done and the shop done, but I’d like for him to go to jail or even prison so that he can’t rip people off,” Bledsoe said. “Because he’s been getting away with this for so long.”

Court records show an extensive history of lawsuits against Jinson.