INDIANTOWN, FL. -- Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles H. Bronson has announced the arrest of a Martin County businessman for defrauding numerous customers who purchased rebuilt auto transmissions but never received them.
Investigators with Bronson's Office of Agricultural Law Enforcement made the arrest Monday evening following a two-month investigation triggered by complaints to the department's toll-free hotline.
The defendant, Edward J. Lukas, 50, of Indiantown, was charged with four counts of grand theft and three counts of credit card fraud, which are all third-degree felonies. Investigators claim that the man defrauded consumers through his website at http://www.transpowerfactory.com.
During the course of the probe, authorities located six victims throughout the country who claimed to have paid Lukas for rebuilt transmissions but never received them. The business refused to issue refunds after customers called to complain, and phone calls, voicemails and e-mails to the business went unanswered, investigators allege.
Lukas was booked into the Martin County Jail on $525,000 bond, but as a result of a violation of probation charge stemming from an unrelated 1999 arrest, he will not be released.
Consumers who want to check the complaint history of a business or a file a complaint against one can do so by visiting the Florida Consumer Services Division website at http://www.800helpfla.com or by calling 1-800-HELPFLA (1-800-435-7352).
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