An investigation by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services announced by Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam in a press release Friday says the man allegedly started working his citrus scheme in March 2014, when he signed contracts with a local company allowing him to harvest citrus from three of its groves a few groves.
Authorities allege that in the months that follow, the suspect — who isn’t a licensed citrus dealer — harvested oranges and grapefruit from the groves, hauling off about 50,000 boxes full of fruit valued at $533,000, and, he admits, didn’t pay the company a cent, according to the press release.
He didn’t stop there, allegedly: officials say he snuck into a Bartow grove owned by an individual and took away 180 boxes of citrus. When he was busted, he wrote a check for only half of what the citrus was worth, the commissioner’s office said, and never paid the rest.
He also entered into a written agreement with a fifth grove, allegedly harvesting $6,000 worth of citrus that he didn’t pay for.
Police have arrested the suspect and charged him with fresh-squeezed organized scheme to defraud, one count of first-degree grand theft, two counts of third-degree grand theft and two counts of dealing in citrus without a license.
by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist
No comments:
Post a Comment