A recent incident in Blackman Township, MI, reveals that retail fraud is no longer simply switching clothes in a dressing room or sneaking out of a store with merchandise in your purse. Eight Wal-Mart employees were recently suspected of defrauding a Wal-Mart store, for what detectives believe to be upwards of $100,000.
Detective Sgt. Chris Boulter said the group conspired with
cashiers to use coupons on ‘non-couponed’ merchandise and did so in bulk. The
conspirators would use coupons intended for $50 items, on $200 items;
fraudulently saving them hundreds of dollars and allowing them to fund more
fraud. Products seized at one suspect’s house totaled $30,000, with police
believing that tens of thousands could have already been sold off on the black
market.
This instance of retail fraud was one of the largest Boulter
has dealt with in his career. In the raided house alone there were hundreds, if
not thousands of items to be categorized into evidence. Although only the
‘black market basement store homeowner’ has currently been arrested, police are
working on warrants for the other seven conspirators. Retail fraud may be small
time shoplifting by kids to organized criminal enterprises.
To learn more about this topic or to see the original
article, please visit: http://www.mlive.com/news/jackson/index.ssf/2012/04/retail_fraud_ring_involving_po.html
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