诈骗顾客数万美元的硬币经销商在佛罗里达州被捕

赛斯·卢茨（Seth Lutz）以“史蒂夫最好的硬币”为名经营，被描述为一个能说会道的人。

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.

一名在海牛县跳蚤市场以“史蒂夫最好的硬币”为名经营的硬币经销商被捕，调查人员称，他向顾客承诺金币和银条，但从未交付，从而骗取了数万美元。

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

55 岁的赛斯·卢茨 (Seth Lutz) 因三项重大盗窃罪被关进海牛县监狱。

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

据马纳提县治安官办公室称，三名顾客报告称卢茨总共损失了超过 6 万美元。

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.

受害者告诉警员，卢茨承诺以硬币和金条的形式向他们出售金银，但他从未兑现诺言，并提出了各种借口，包括指责他的供应商。

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

调查人员表示，这并不是卢茨第一次被指控实施此类犯罪。

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，他在五年内从 31 名顾客那里盗取了超过 22 万美元，并因 27 项盗窃罪在皮尼拉斯县被捕。

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

由于这些指控，卢茨被判入狱五年，并在海牛县开店时处于缓刑期。

"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.

海牛县治安官办公室的侦探兰迪·沃伦说：“他显然除了出去骗取人们的血汗钱之外，不知道还能做什么。”

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

“他必须非常善于说服人们，才能让他们花那么多钱。”

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

卢茨最近的一名受害者通过电话与 FOX 13 进行了交谈。

"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.

“我以为我以前和他做过生意。嗯，他是当地人。这很重要，但非常不幸，”这名不愿透露姓名的男子说。

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

他说，他意识到随着时间的流逝，他将永远看不到他所支付的黄金。

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

“幸运的是，世界上没有那么多这样的人，但我需要小心，”他说。

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

海牛县治安官办公室表示，由于卢茨从未兑现他的承诺，三名顾客的赔偿金额已超过 6 万美元。

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

沃伦说：“有很多借口解释他为什么不能这样做，甚至指责他的供应商。”

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.

调查人员表示，这并不是卢茨第一次实施这种犯罪行为，但他们表示，这次他给顾客起了不同的名字，这样他们就无法查询他的过去。

"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."

“他是个骗子，”沃伦说。 “他以前就这么做过，令人遗憾的是人们对他足够信任，能够给予他大笔现金，期望得到他无意提供的产品。”

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

这个故事中的信息是由 FOX 13 的 Kimberly Kuizon 收集的。海牛县治安官办公室提供了有关此案的信息。