TAMPA, Fla. – A Florida man has been arrested on fraud charges.
Jason Canals, 39, of Spring Hill, Fla. has been arrested and charged with eight counts of interstate transport of stolen property, according to a news release from the US Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida. If convicted on all counts, Canals faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison. The indictment also notifies Canals that the United States intends to forfeit the proceeds traceable to the offenses.
According to the indictment, Canals perpetrated multiple schemes to defraud wholesale produce companies. In one scheme, Canals, without permission, used a company’s name and email signature block to send communications to victim companies requesting produce. While the shipments were enroute, Canals diverted the produce to a new location and never paid the victim companies. In a separate scheme, Canals provided victim companies false documentation making the companies believe he had prepaid for the produce, when no such payment was ever made. In total, between the cost of the produce and its transportation, Canals’s schemes resulted in a loss of over $600,000 to the victim companies.
Bruce Guthrie is an award-winning journalist who has lived in three states including Arkansas, Missouri and Georgia. During his nearly 20-year career, Bruce has served as managing editor and sports editor for numerous publications. He and his wife, Dana, who is also a journalist, are based in Carrollton, Georgia.
