Scores of victims, $1.1M in claims. Pierce Co. contractor case spreads statewide
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Construction Kings is accused of scamming more than 100 people totaling $2.8 million.
- Washington L&I suspended Nash’s contractor registration on April 23.
- Nash filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on May 11 listing $50,000–$100,000 in assets.
Every time Brittany Gunderson goes out to her yard, she’s reminded of a promise poured in concrete and left unfinished.
Gunderson, who lives in Bonney Lake with her husband, Todd, hired a local construction firm to build a ramp for her brother-in-law, Travis. In February, the couple, who are both 39 years old, paid just under $50,000 in deposits for the ramp — a project meant to make it possible for Travis, who uses a wheelchair, to enter their home.
The company, Construction Kings, started framing and then abandoned the project, Gunderson said — leaving her with a $50,000 loss and a brother-in-law who still can’t get in the door.
She’s not alone.
State officials say they’ve received 40-plus claims totaling more than $1.1 million against Construction Kings, which is headed by Zakary Nash. A Facebook group that has been tracking Construction Kings estimates the number of victims at more than 100 and the combined loss at $2.88 million.
The News Tribune reached out to Nash.
“Due to threats we have received and serious safety concerns for my family and myself, we have no comment at this time,” Nash wrote in an email. “Any correspondence should be directed to my attorneys.”
The News Tribune contacted Nash’s attorney, Patrick Brick, and did not receive a response.
The allegations have caused a ripple effect and actions from law enforcement.
The Bonney Lake Police Department launched an investigation in March and has forwarded the case to the Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, which has forwarded the case to the state. On April 23, L&I suspended Nash’s contractor registration. Earlier this month, Nash filed for bankruptcy in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
How did the jobs go wrong?
According to the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries (L&I), Construction Kings began business in June 2022. It lists a Sumner address on its state registration.
Jason Hesse, a Snohomish resident who also said he lost thousands to Nash, has spearheaded an effort to compile a list of alleged victims. He has noticed two patterns: Nash would ask customers for a 50% deposit and then either never show up again or have workers start and then abandon the job.
“Usually in that pattern, siding was removed, concrete for a deck was started, and then the work stopped,” Hesse said.
Hesse said subcontractors have been hired for jobs and then not paid for materials or for jobs they had finished.
Victims and subcontractors have formed a Facebook group, “Washington scammers Beware,” to share stories and find others who say they were affected. Hesse said he has compiled a list of 144 potential victims and has spoken to 75 of them, including people in Pierce, Thurston, King, Snohomish, Kitsap and Whitman counties.
‘We’re not going to see the money anytime soon’
Every July, the Gundersons throw a big barbecue party to celebrate Travis’ birthday. Now, Brittany Gunderson doesn’t know if that will be possible.
“He’s 6-foot-2. He’s a very big guy, and to get him in and out of the house without a ramp is nearly impossible,” Gunderson said. “The last time he was in my house was Christmas morning, and that was with the help of family members.”
Travis was injured as a teenager in a crash with a drunk driver, Gunderson said. He was in a coma for months. He has short-term memory loss, poor vision and is paralyzed on his left side. He requires 24/7 care at an adult family home in Kent, she said.
Before, the family could sometimes bring him over for game nights, Gunderson said. But those visits became much harder after Todd broke his ankles last year.
“My husband can’t lift him anymore,” she said. “I definitely can’t lift this guy, and so it’s to the point where we can’t even bring him into our house.”
Gunderson said they chose Construction Kings because it had five-star reviews online and had completed a project at a neighbor’s home the year before. She said they paid Nash $33,296 in July 2025 and another $16,648 in January. They planned to pay the remaining $16,648 when the work was complete.
The money, she said, came from Travis’ trust fund.
The couple has consulted a lawyer, Gunderson said, but she isn’t optimistic they will recover the money.
“We’re not going to see the money anytime soon,” she said. “Maybe years and years from now, but he doesn’t have anything we can touch.”
‘For two months, I had to live off savings’
Toly Filip, owner of Puyallup-based Northern Exteriors and a subcontractor who worked with Nash, said Nash first reached out in February 2025. Filip told The News Tribune that Northern Exteriors is a “family-owned, residential, small construction company” that specializes in decks, siding and windows.
“The guy is a great salesman,” Filip said. “He made big promises: ‘When you show up to my job site, materials are always there.’ From the very first job, we show up and nothing is there — literally no material.”
Filip said the job was a window installation project, and Nash had taken a 50% deposit from the homeowner, which was supposed to cover material costs.
“I said, ‘Zak, what are we doing?’” Filip recalled. “And he said, ‘Yeah, man, sorry, we’re going to have to cancel.’ So I had to send my guys home without pay.”
That was the first of five jobs Filip said he worked on for Nash’s clients from February to September 2025, including jobs in Tacoma, Bonney Lake, Orting and Eatonville. Each one cost him money, he said.
“What he would do is he would say, ‘Start this next job for me so that I can pay you for the previous job,’” Filip said. “He would kind of string me on and hold me hostage in a way, where I basically had no choice. Like, if I wanted to get paid for the job that we just finished, I had to start the next job for him.”
Filip also said that Nash would blame Filip’s workers if the job couldn’t get done.
“The job was just never ready. The clients were always frustrated and furious of why we’re not there,” Filip said. “And instead of being honest and telling his clients that he just cannot buy the material, he would throw us under the bus and say, ‘Oh, yeah, they just can’t make it today,’”
In September, Filip said he and his crew completed a renovation in Eatonville — replacing windows, siding and building a deck — but weren’t paid, even though Nash received $161,000 from the homeowner. That was when he put his foot down.
“I said, ‘Zak, you are crippling my business. You are crippling my livelihood,’” Filip said.
Filip said Nash made sporadic payments that totaled $9,500, then stopped. He said Nash still owes him $47,525.
“I have not been able to pay myself,” Filip said. “For two months I had to live off savings. I had to cover payroll, materials, and job-related expenses that occurred. All I could think of is how to cover these expenses, and how am I going to be able to make it out of this so that I don’t go underwater?”
From complaints to consequences
Tobie Johnston, a detective with the Bonney Lake Police Department, said she opened a criminal investigation after a victim contacted the department in March.
“Most of the time, it is a civil issue,” Johnston said. “The route that I went would be determining if work has even been started yet, in my case. So, there was money taken but nothing started or completed, and then looking into the case as far as were there any actual intentions of doing any work at the residence.”
Johnston said she found evidence Nash intended to defraud the victim. The detective forwarded the case to the Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office for review.
Matt Ross, spokesperson with L&I, told The News Tribune in an email the Construction Kings case is “one of the more egregious cases we’ve seen.”
“We’ve received more than 40 claims from homeowners against this contractor for more than $1.1 million,” Ross wrote in an email to The News Tribune on May 22. “...We have referred the case to law enforcement agencies in Pierce, Thurston, King, and Kitsap counties, and to the Attorney General’s Office for potential prosecution for criminal fraud.”
Adam Faber, spokesperson for the Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, told The News Tribune it has given the Washington State Attorney General’s Office “concurrent jursdiction” on the case. This means that both agencies have the power to investigate it, but Faber said the state will be handling the case from here on out.
“The allegations about this company cross county lines, so this is a case that makes sense for the AGO to take,” Faber wrote in an email to The News Tribune on May 28. “It will be handled by the Criminal Litigation Unit of the AGO’s Criminal Justice Division. “
The News Tribune reached out to Mike Faulk, spokesperson for the Washington Attorney General’s Office. Faulk declined to say if the office is investigating the case, saying it has a policy of neither confirming nor denying “questions about potential investigatory matters.”
Faulk did tell The News Tribune the office has received 36 complaints against Nash.
In Pierce County Superior Court, there have been nine civil cases filed against Construction Kings between Jan. 29 and May 20. Prior to that, Nash was a defendant in two civil cases in 2018.
The first civil case was from Capital One Bank on March 26, 2018, alleging that Nash failed to pay $4,205 in credit card debt. The second civil case came from America’s Credit Union on Sept. 16, 2018. It alleged that Nash borrowed money from the credit union in 2015 to finance an automobile loan. The car was repossessed and re-sold, court documents say, and the “deficiency balance due and owing after sale and application of proceeds to the loan balance” was $11,283.
L&I suspended Nash’s contractor registration on April 23. Under state law, contractors must be registered, and, if a registration is suspended, it is illegal to advertise, bid or perform work as a contractor. Contractors can be charged with a gross misdemeanor for each day they work while suspended.
In his email, Ross said Construction Kings was already facing four L&I electrical citations in April “for failing to get required permits and failure to properly supervise an electrical trainee.”
Nash filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on May 11. Chapter 7 bankruptcy allows a trustee — an impartial person appointed by the court — to sell the debtor’s assets and use the funds to pay the people who are owed money.
According to court documents, Nash owns $50,000 to $100,000 in assets and owes money to roughly 100 to 199 people. He checked a box that said that after administrative expenses, no funds would be available for unsecured creditors.
‘That will be very impactful for us financially’
As the end of May draws near, Gunderson is trying to beat the clock before Travis’ birthday. Contractors have volunteered to build the ramp for free, she said, but they still need at least $25,000 in materials.
“That will be very impactful for us financially,” Gunderson said. “I don’t know if we’re going to have to take out a loan … because I’m certainly not going to take any more from [Travis].”
As for Nash?
“I hope he goes to jail for this,” Gunderson said. “I hope there’s justice.”
This story was originally published May 29, 2026 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Scores of victims, $1.1M in claims. Pierce Co. contractor case spreads statewide."
