Stoughton IKEA employees, including manager, stole $65K, say police
STOUGHTON MA December 22 2018 — Three employees of IKEA, including a manager, are accused of stealing more than $65,000 in an elaborate recall fraud scheme, police said.
Police say Jonathan Mejia, 19, the manager, and two employees, Noah Duarte, 20, and Eboni Gillard, 20, all of Brockton, were all charged with larceny over $1,200 and conspiracy related to the scheme.
In total, between October and December, the employees were responsible for the loss of more than $65,000 in cash from the department store, according to police Lt. John Bonney.
On Dec. 2, the security team at IKEA told police that they noticed large amounts of money were missing. The store told police that they suspected Gillard, an employee, was involved in the scheme. At that time, she was arrested on an unrelated warrant and detectives opened an investigation.
“Detectives, working with IKEA security, watched surveillance video and saw they were taking advantage of a return policy on a recalled bureau that allowed for a full cash refund with only a piece of the recalled product being brought back into the store,” Bonney said. “These transactions would be done with little-to-no communication to the pre-arranged customer. ”
Beginning in October, the three employees would allow their co-conspirators to enter the store with the pieces of the recalled items to receive large amounts of cash in return, Bonney said.
In total, more than 30 separate return transactions were made, he said.
“These transactions had to be approved by a manager,” Bonney said. “Mejia approved all but two of these transactions and even scheduled Duarte and Gillard to work his shift.”
On Monday, Mejia and Gillard were arrested and arraigned in Stoughton District Court. Duarte was arrested and arraigned earlier.
All three were released from court on personal recognizance.
The case remains under investigation and further charges could be filed.
Patriot Ledger
