A Rolling Prairie man fell victim to a fraudulent heavy machinery dealer in La Porte County, Indiana.
On Wednesday, a man reported to the La Porte County Sheriff’s Office that a business called Premium Heavy Gears had conned him. According to his report, he had purchased a Bobcat mini excavator from the company for a sum of over $13,000. After signing a purchase agreement, he made a wire transfer for half the amount and sent the remaining payment eleven days later. The man claimed that he had only spoken to a woman from the company once over the phone and had not received any further communication since then.
A detective from La Porte County reached out to the police in Mobile, Alabama, where they believed the dealer to be located. The investigators in Mobile revealed that there was no record of such a company and that there had been over $8 million worth of similar fraudulent transactions reported since June. The FBI has taken over the case, and as a result, the Premium Heavy Gears website has been suspended.
