A 52-year-old East Stroudsburg man is out over $103,000 in a theft by deception incident he reported to state police at the Stroudsburg barracks, saying he transferred money three times to a Georgia company for a business transaction he believed he entered to purchase 50 tons of Sysco sugar.

Police said the man went to their barracks on March 22 to report the theft/fraud/forgery incident that he said happened between Aug. 2 and 27 of last year.

Police said through their investigation it was determined the man traveled to the Sysco Corporation in Atlanta on July 25 last year to meet with a suspect in the front lobby of the commercial premises in anticipation of formulating a business deal involving the sugar which was supposedly sourced from the facility. The victim said following a mutual agreement, he made electronic, wire transfer payments totaling $103,275 (two payments of $15,512.50 and one for $72,250 on Aug. 2, 14 and 27, respectively) from his residence at 255 Rising Meadow Way, Middle Smithfield Township, by means of his Chase Bank account, to the suspect’s Mercury Bank account.

The victim told police in October he realized the transactions were to no avail, as he never received the Sysco sugar product. He said he contacted the Sysco Corporation and was told the company had no record of that transaction ever happening. The victim said he related to the suspect he would allow 30 days to receive the shipment, but later learned he had been blocked of communication with the perpetrator.

The victim told police he reported the criminal activity to various authorities in the vicinity before it was brought to the attention of state police.