Defrauding Wal-Mart

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