Coin Dealer Who Scammed Customers Out of Tens of Thousands of Dollars Arrested in Florida

Seth Lutz, who operated under the name "Steve's Best Coins," was described as a fast talker.

A coin dealer who operated under the name "Steve's Best Coins" at a Manatee County flea market has been arrested after investigators said he scammed customers out of tens of thousands of dollars by promising them gold coins and silver bars that he never delivered.

Seth Lutz, 55, was booked into the Manatee County Jail on three counts of grand theft.

According to the Manatee County Sheriff's Office, three customers reported losing a total of more than $60,000 to Lutz.

The victims told deputies that Lutz promised to sell them gold and silver in the form of coins and bars, but he never followed through on his promises and came up with a variety of excuses, including blaming his supplier.

Investigators said this isn't the first time Lutz has been accused of pulling off this type of crime.

Previously, he was arrested in Pinellas County on 27 charges of grand theft after taking more than $220,000 from 31 customers over a five-year period.

For those charges, Lutz served five years in prison and was on probation when he set up shop in Manatee County.

"He obviously doesn’t know how to do anything else except go out there and scam people out of their hard-earned money," said Randy Warren, a detective with the Manatee County Sheriff's Office.

"He had to be very good at convincing people in order for them to shell over that amount of cash."

One of Lutz's recent victims spoke with FOX 13 over the phone.

"I thought I had done business with him before. Well, he’s local. That counted for something, but it’s just very unfortunate," said the man, who didn't want to be identified.

He said he realized he would never see the gold he paid for as the days and months went by.

"Fortunately for the world, there aren’t that many people like that, but I need to be careful," he said.

The Manatee County Sheriff's Office said three customers are out of more than $60,000, after Lutz never delivered on his promise.

"There was a plethora of excuses as to why he couldn’t do it, even blaming his supplier," said Warren.

Investigators said this wasn't the first time Lutz pulled off this crime, but they said this time he was giving customers a different first name, so they couldn't look up his past.

"He’s a con man," said Warren. "He’s done it before, and it’s just sad that people would trust him enough to be able to give large sums of cash, expecting to get the product that he had no intention of giving them."

The information in this story was gathered by FOX 13's Kimberly Kuizon. The Manatee County Sheriff's Office provided information about the case.