(CNN) Perhaps he had an insatiable appetite for oranges. Or maybe he was just trying to squeeze a serious profit.

Whatever the reason, a Florida man allegedly stole 4 million pounds of citrus, the state department of agriculture said Friday. That's more than $540,000 worth of produce.

Officials said Bradley D. Reiter, owner of Reiter Citrus Inc., entered into contracts with several grove companies and a resident to buy and remove citrus from their land -- but he never paid for the fruit.

He also entered a resident's grove without permission and removed 180 boxes of citrus, the agriculture department said. Officials said Reiter Citrus Inc. gave the resident a check worth only half the actual value of the fruit.

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