IKEA worker caught stealing $400K
January 21, 2009 by Shane BorerPosted in: "Seemed like a good idea at the time", Fighting off fraud, In this week's e-newsletter, Latest news & views, Tech failure
This former employee is probably glad he stole money instead of furniture, because he won’t be needing any king-sized beds or lamps where he’s headed.
Suraj Samaroo recently pleaded guilty to stealing nearly $400,000 from an IKEA call center in Baltimore County, MD. In less than a year at his job, Samaroo learned how to manipulate the company’s phone and mail order system to make a tidy profit.
According to prosecutors’ records, Samaroo would issue himself refunds for purchases made by customers and then alter inventory records to cover his tracks. He gave the money to friends and family, and bought himself a new car, motorcycle and crystal pieces — but notably, no furniture.
Samaroo faces a maximum of 15 years in prison, but because he admitted his actions were motivated by “pure greed,” his lawyers are pleading for a 10-year sentence followed by five years’ probation.
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Tags: IKEA, Inventory, Probation, Workplace theft
January 23rd, 2009 at 2:06 pm
This is an old scam in the retail world, it’s called third-party charge fraud. In a past life in the retail world we had a young man working in a shoe salon that financed his college degree to the tune of $31,000 by processing charge credits to his account and then using his “open-to-buy” to pay his tuition ~ he hoped to become a CPA, but after his conviction he’d never get such a license. A couple of years later we had another gentleman do the same thing for about $35,000 and then entirely disappeared to the extent that the Secret Service and international police agencies lost complete track of him. Another more minor scam that’s more commonplace is to process “credits” to big spending customers for small amounts that they’re not likely to notice on their accounts ($20 or $50) and then pocket the money; the more savvy salesperson will do this using a fellow salesperson’s number so any attention will be on the other person if there is scrutiny.
January 26th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
How is “greed” a justification for REDUCING a sentence???