A Florida man was arrested after stealing more over half a million dollars worth of produce, using schemes to defraud wholesale produce companies.
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| Florida man steals over $600,000 worth of produce |
A Florida man came up with "multiple schemes to defraud wholesale produce companies" by diverting produce to different destinations, stealing a lot of onions and potatoes.
Schemes to Defraud Wholesale Produce Companies
FOX 13 News reported that 39-year-old Jason Canals from Spring Hill, FL was arrested after being caught using a company's name and email signature block "without permission" to request produce from wholesale produce companies. Once a shipment was on its way, Canals would then divert the produce to a different destination. The wholesale produce suppliers were never paid in this scheme, and in another situation, Canals even produced false documents to deceive the wholesale produce companies into thinking the shipment was already paid for by their actual customer.
After his crimes were tabulated, it was determined that the thefts totaled more than $600,000 USD, and the fraud case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Office of Inspector General, and the F.B.I. The Assistant U.S. Attorney Merrilyn Hoenemeyer plans to prosecute Canals for his crimes, which could result in a maximum of 10 years in federal prison for eight counts of interstate transport of stolen property.
