Victim of Dependable Locksmiths?

The U.S. Postal Inspectors want to hear from you. They have set up a special hotline: 314-539-9441.

The owners of a locksmith company operating here in Utah are behind bars tonight, charged with fraud and money laundering.

It is that same company that Bill Gephardt exposed last week here on 2News for their practices of over charging customers.

Tonight, Bill is here with the follow-up.

It was a simple lie, the company told, by quoting one price on the phone for a customer who is locked out of their car or home, and charging a much higher price.

And then, we found, Dependable Locksmith lied about the local offices of the company.

But tonight, the company owners face felony charges.

"What do you have to say for yourself?" asked a reporter as Dependable Locksmith owner Mashe Aharoni was taken away in handcuffs. His Clearwater, Florida company was raided last week.

Also arrested, David Peer. Both are charged with mail fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering.

He's accused of instructing dispatchers to quote $54 dollars for a car lockout, then the responding technician would charge up to $179 dollars.

"I'm Bill Gephardt with Channel 2,” Bill says.

Now, here's a locksmith, supposedly from a local company called "A-1 24 Hour Locksmith."

"I want to know why it's 158 dollars," Bill says.

It was the same scheme I showed you last week. On the phone, the price quote was 54 dollars...but then he charged 158 dollars.  

The same thing happened to Denise and Chelsie, and Michaela. And, when they tried to complain to the company, they found they weren't local at all. In fact, I found the company lied about its addresses, listing things as the Nebo School District, local restaurants, gas stations, and countless businesses.

But I found all the local addresses and all the local phone numbers actually connected directly back to Clearwater, Florida and Dependable Locksmith.

And that’s where Aharoni is accused of teaching this guy how to fool customers.

"Yes, Mosha, that's exactly right," Bill says.

But on the phone, Mosha didn't answer any of my questions.

While complaints against Dependable Locksmith came in from all over the country, it was the Postal Inspectors who raided the company, since postal money orders were allegedly used to transfer money from the locksmiths to the company.

And now, Postal Inspectors want to hear from you.   Maybe there will be some refunds for jilted customers.

“More complaints will come in,” says Inspector Doug Smith. “There will be more stuff to look at and there's lot more investigation to do."

This company reached nationwide, sometimes forcing customers to pay by holding the keys or driver licenses, this court document says.

Is this company or others like them finally shut down? Officials caution this case is far from closed. But postal inspectors want to hear from you, if you've had and dealings with Dependable Locksmith or any of the various manes the use. The number for the special hotline set up by the Postal Inspectors on this 314-539-9441.