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Siblings charged with stealing more than $150,000 in fuel

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TBO.com

Published: August 26, 2009

Diego Ruiz

Jesus Ruiz

TAMPA - Two brothers stole more than $150,000 in fuel from their job and sold it in 55-gallon drums, Hillsborough County deputies say.

On Tuesday morning, deputies arrested Jesus Ruiz, 54, of Lakeland, and Diego Ruiz, 59, of Tampa. Each was charged with grand theft-$100,000 or more.

The Ruizes work for Penske, 9109 Palm River Road in Palm River. The business noticed some discrepancies in deliveries, did an internal audit and discovered that $155,865 in fuel went missing between January 2007 and this July, sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter said.

"Apparently what they were doing was, they were the ones that controlled the fuel when it came, and when it was delivered, they had a 30-gallon tank they would fill it up with, and they would transfer it to a 55-gallon drum that they would take and sell," Carter said.

Carter didn't know where the men sold the fuel or what they charged for it. When deputies arrested the Ruizes, they said they had stolen the fuel, Carter said. An audit into whether more fuel was taken prior to January 2007 is ongoing.

The men have been released from jail. Their bail had been set at $15,000 each.

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