HUDSON, Fla. (WFLA) — Better Call Behnken continues to press for answers for customers of a marine construction company that abruptly shut its doors last year.
AVCO Marine Construction was based in Hudson and did work throughout Pasco and Hernando counties and some in Pinellas and Hillsborough.
Customers say they paid down payments, ranging from around $10,000 to $30,000 for boat docks and lifts. The company owner claimed in a deposition that around 140 customers lost about $1.3 million.
Customers say they are frustrated.
“It seems he had no intention of doing the work,” said Charles Lindahl, a customer who says he paid $10,000 for a deposit and got nothing. “He just took the money and ran.”
The “he” he is talking about is AVCO company owner Ed Avella, who in October filed to liquidate his company. Avella has denied requests for comment but when asked in a deposition for that case where the money went he said it went toward customers’ work and company expenses.
He testified there were 140 impacted customers who were out $1.3 million.
The Pasco County Sheriff’s Office says it referred several criminal investigations into AVCO to the Attorney General’s Office of Statewide Prosecution.
Meanwhile, the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office says it still has active investigations into the company.