VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. --
Eyewitness News has learned a couple accused of using the fire department to defraud businesses has been working the same con around the country.
The Kentucky couple was jailed in Volusia County, accused of collecting money by pretending to be with the fire department.
When businesses got letters asking them to support the crews at a fire station involved in one of Central Florida's biggest fire's earlier this spring, they gave freely. The problem was, nobody at the station was asking for anything.
A restaurant in Ormond Beach bought a couple hundred bucks of ad space in what the manager thought was a new calendar for firefighters. A Port Orange restaurant bought $300 -worth.
Firefighters, though, never saw a dime of that money. Instead, police said, it was going into the pockets of Bruce Fraley and his wife Caren.
"We were surprised and then upset about the whole thing," said Chief Don Petito, Flagler Fire Department.
The couple was in court Wednesday to face fraud charges.
Police said that out of their rented home in Ormond Beach, they wrote up authentic looking letters, forged signatures and made receipts and then sold unsuspecting businesses on the idea.
Emergency crews are not surprised people gave the money.
"Our fire crews give a lot and people are good about giving back to them," said Carl Laundrie, Flagler Fire.
The couple is wanted for 11 similar charges in Kentucky, 15 in Virginia and 26 in North Carolina. The search is still on for more victims in Central Florida.
Investigators found about 20 more receipts in the Fraley's home that they think are from other victims. Police also said the couple was using the money to buy food and drugs.
