The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services arrested a Polk County man for illegally obtaining more than 4 million pounds of citrus worth more than $540,000 from five victims.
According to the department’s investigation, Bradley D. Reiter, owner and operator of Reiter Citrus Inc. in Winter Haven, allegedly:
- Entered into contract with Gabriel Family Partners to purchase citrus and removed 13,108 boxes of oranges between March 20 and April 16, 2014 and never paid the business for the fruit or its rise value.
- Entered into contract with Gabriel Groves Inc. to purchase citrus and removed 1,599 boxes of grapefruit and 20,468 boxes of oranges between March 26 and April 28, 2014 and never paid the business for the fruit or its rise value.
- Entered into contract with Sandlake Groves LLC to purchase citrus and removed 10,907 boxes of oranges between April 29 and May 14, 2014 and never paid the business for the fruit or its rise value.
- Entered a grove owned by a Bartow resident without permission and removed 180 boxes of citrus and then provided the resident with a check that only represented half of the actual value of the fruit.
- Entered into a written agreement with another Bartow resident to purchase citrus and removed 570 boxes of citrus fruit and never paid the resident for the fruit.
Reiter was booked into the Polk County Jail and is facing multiple charges, including scheme to defraud, grand theft, and dealing citrus without a license.