Three officers of a now-defunct Alpharetta roofing company have been arrested for scamming more than 50 victims in seven metro Atlanta counties out of more than $350,000.

The Governor’s Office of Consumer Protection has been investigating Pinnacle Roofing since 2009.  In warrants taken out in Gwinnett County, where most of the victims were targeted, Pinnacle is described as “storm chasing enterprise”.

The company’s owner and CEO Terry Kiefer, who has been arrested in Montana, is accused of using money paid to him by the victims for personal gain rather completing the work.  He moved the company to Colorado in September of 2009.

Operations Manager Bill Sisson and Chief Financial Officer Scott Knoll bonded out of the Gwinnett County Jail this week on charges of racketeering and theft.  Pinnacle’s bookkeeper and secretary, Betty Anne Harris, is the only one who has not yet been arrested.

Kathleen Williams and her husband were among more than two dozen victims in Gwinnett.  The elderly couple lost $4,000 to Pinnacle.

She says a sales representative came to their Grayson home in July 2009 after they had experienced a hail storm and told them they had damage.

“They came and they took our money and we never heard from them again,” she tells WSB’s Sandra Parrish.

Gwinnett District Attorney Danny Porter says he’s heard similar stories from other victims over the years.

But he’s is critical of the state for not bringing charges against the company’s officers before now.  He only has until Oct. 1 to get a grand jury to indict the suspects before the statute of limitations runs out.

“I’m going to do everything I can because I’ve been aware of this case and I’ve been aware of the victims; there are Gwinnett County victims who suffered extreme losses in this case,” he says. “I just can’t believe what was provided to me as an excuse for a criminal investigation.”

In an emailed statement, the Office of Consumer Protection defends its investigation calling it a complex case.

“It essentially started in a bankruptcy court in Georgia with a claim that this was just another failed business venture. Disproving that claim took a long investigation that stretched from Florida to Colorado among other states and required the use of significant resources, human and financial.  After we determined that there was substantial evidence of criminal behavior, we provided the case to the Gwinnett County District Attorney’s Office and they have agreed to prosecute.”