The website for Up Boats LLC promises “the ultimate tender.” A lightweight, custom carbon fiber boat.

Tom Stinnett: “This particular one, I was really pleased with the way it looked and the stability of the boat.”

Tom Stinnett was living in the Bahamas when he ordered one to ride around with his friends.

Tom Stinnett: “I paid him $28,885. I wire transferred that money on the Feb. 7.”

Tom says the owner of Up Boats LLC promised him, “We will have your boat ready by end of May.” But Tom says excuses and unanswered texts kept piling up as the delivery date approached.

Tom Stinnett: “The more I contacted him, the less he returned my phone calls, my texts, and my emails about the boat, and I knew I had a problem.”

Opa-locka Police started investigating after getting calls from buyers saying they paid a man named Ricardo Deuker at Up Boats for boats, they never received.

Deuker was arrested on theft and fraud charges on November 11th.

Sgt. Gabriela Llanes, Opa-locka PD: “We received information that he was leaving for Mexico. We don’t know the reasons why he was leaving. So we detained him at the airport with the assistance of the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office.”

Police tell 7 Investigates so far, they have found nearly half a million dollars in alleged fraud linked to Deuker, who also goes by the name Ric Ruthenberg.

He is facing 25 felony charges, including 13 counts of organized fraud and 12 counts of grand theft.

And 13 more boaters have contacted police, saying they never received their boats after paying for them.

Sgt. Gabriela Llanes: “We have an ongoing investigation, and we believe that there’s possibly 100 or more victims.”

Blaine Stevenson says his boat was actually delivered, but he says it was so poorly built that it sank.

He lives on the water—in the Virgin Islands. He had to pay for repairs on top of the nearly $12,000 he paid for the boat.

Blaine Stevenson: “And so I live off of an army retirement pension. So this boat is three months’ worth of my paycheck.”

Blaine started a Facebook page to find other people in the same ‘boat’ and was quickly sent this Reddit thread full of complaints from other boaters.

Blaine Stevenson: “We didn’t know anything about Reddit. I think if we had gone to Reddit, this thing would have blown up a lot sooner.”

Meanwhile, Tom decided to sue to get his money back.

Tom Stinnett: “I can’t stand fraud and dishonesty. I, of course, would like the money back. I can use that money in my retirement account.”

Police say it’s too early to know if the boaters will ever see their money again, but they are asking all potential victims to call them to file a complaint.

Ricardo Deuker is currently detained at Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center and awaiting arraignment.

Courtney Allen, 7News.

CONTACT 7 INVESTIGATES:
305-627-CLUE
954-921-CLUE
7Investigates@wsvn.com

Weeks ahead of Thanksgiving, preparations for the largest meal delivery in South Florida were underway.

Packed inside these bags are mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing and the most important ingredient: goodwill.

Isabelle Pike, Senior Vice President of Development at Branches: “On Thanksgiving morning, we’ll have over a thousand volunteers come together to cook, package and deliver over 6,000 meals.”

The meals are provided by a nonprofit called Branches. The group is based out of North Miami and works with low-income families to break through the poverty barrier.

Their Thanksgiving production is massive. The goal is simple: to make sure South Florida families who are struggling don’t have to worry about what will be on the table this Thanksgiving.

Josechaba Dolcema: “They help me. The kids are happy when I have Thanksgiving.”

With eight children, Josechaba Dolcema has a lot of mouths to feed. And now the stress of figuring out how to do that has been taken off her shoulders.

Josechaba Dolcema: “When I receive the meal, I am happy, because it helps me with my family and my friends.”

But these meals serve more than the families. The volunteers are also grateful for the chance to give back.

Hector Sanchez, volunteer: “My wife and I wanted to show our kids how to serve the community, and they started very little, when they were young, teenagers, and now they come and serve with their wives and, you know, I’m waiting for my granddaughter to come with us also.”

The first year of the program, they gave out 600 Thanksgiving dinners. Now, 25 years later, they are giving out 6,000.

Brent McLaughlin, CEO of Branches: “People have been so generous over the years that they keep getting more generous and want to give back. And I think at Thanksgiving, it’s both giver and receiver that is blessed.”

It takes a village to pull it all together year after year. But for the families who receive the meals and the people who volunteer, it is a labor of love.

Heather Walker, 7News.

If you know of a person, place or group that you think we should highlight, email us at 7spotlight@wsvn.com.