詐騙顧客數萬美元的硬幣經銷商在佛羅裡達州被捕

賽斯·盧茨（Seth Lutz）以“史蒂夫最好的硬幣”為名經營，被描述為一個能言善道的人。

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.

一名在海牛縣跳蚤市場以「史蒂夫最好的硬幣」為名經營的硬幣經銷商被捕，調查人員稱，他向顧客承諾金幣和銀條，但從未交付，從而騙取了數萬美元。

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

55 歲的賽斯盧茨 (Seth Lutz) 因三項重大盜竊罪被關進海牛縣監獄。

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

據馬納提縣治安官辦公室稱，三名顧客報告稱盧茨總共損失了超過 6 萬美元。

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.

受害者告訴警員，盧茨承諾以硬幣和金條的形式向他們出售金銀，但他從未兌現諾言，並提出了各種藉口，包括指責他的供應商。

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

調查人員表示，這並不是盧茨第一次被指控實施此類犯罪。

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.

此前，他在五年內從 31 名顧客那裡盜取了超過 22 萬美元，並因 27 項盜竊罪在皮尼拉斯縣被捕。

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

由於這些指控，盧茨被判入獄五年，並在海牛縣開店時處於緩刑期。

"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.

海牛縣治安官辦公室的偵探蘭迪沃倫說：“他顯然除了出去騙取人們的血汗錢之外，不知道還能做什麼。”

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

“他必須非常善於說服人們，才能讓他們花那麼多錢。”

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

盧茨最近的一名受害者透過電話與 FOX 13 進行了交談。

"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.

「我以為我以前和他做過生意。嗯，他是當地人。這很重要，但非常不幸，」這名不願透露姓名的男子說。

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

他說，他意識到隨著時間的流逝，他將永遠看不到他所支付的黃金。

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

「幸運的是，世界上沒有那麼多這樣的人，但我需要小心，」他說。

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

海牛縣治安官辦公室表示，由於盧茨從未兌現他的承諾，三名顧客的賠償金額已超過 6 萬美元。

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

沃倫說：“有很多藉口解釋他為什麼不能這樣做，甚至指責他的供應商。”

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.

調查人員表示，這並不是盧茨第一次實施這種犯罪行為，但他們表示，這次他給了顧客不同的名字，這樣他們就無法查詢他的過去。

"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."

「他是個騙子，」沃倫說。 “他以前就這麼做過，令人遺憾的是人們對他足夠信任，能夠給他大筆現金，期望得到他無意提供的產品。”

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

這個故事中的信息是由 FOX 13 的 Kimberly Kuizon 收集的。海牛縣治安官辦公室提供了有關此案的資訊。