LeClaire boat dealer swindler a South Dakota man out of $72,000 dollars

A South Dakota man says a LeClaire boat dealer is to blame after he was swindled out of $72,000.

Jason Kellen says he agreed to buy a boat from Grace Marine in LeClaire.

According to Kellen, they worked out a deal over email and discussed how to transfer payment. Jason says he wired the money to BMO bank at the request of Grace Marine.

Problem is, the business never got the money.

According to a lawsuit filed by Jason, hackers had taken over Grace Marine’s email system and posed as the business when it told Jason where to wire the money.

He says Grace Marine knew about the attack but is refusing to reimburse him.

For its part, Grace Marine not only denies responsibility, it denies most of Jason’s story.

Grace Marine’s lawyers at Lane and Waterman issued TV6 Investigates a statement that stated:

“Grace Marine vehemently denies the allegations made by Mr. Kellen in his lawsuit. Grace Marine denies that it was the target of a “ransomware attack” that caused Mr. Kellen’s alleged damages or jeopardized its customers’ data. Grace Marine looks forward to vigorously defending itself against this lawsuit and presenting its defense in court.”

TV6 Investigates also reached out to Kellen’s lawyer in South Dakota and didn’t get a response.

Jason said he made a report with the LeClaire Police Department in May. 

Jason Kellen is asking for the cost of his losses and  damages.