After a 19-year-old Duluth man tried to pull off a nearly $1 million-worth grocery store scam in a shop where he worked on Steve Reynolds Boulevard, local law authorities arrested the suspect in Gwinnett.
Based on the report, the man who was identified as Tre Brown, 19, tried to scam an estimate of $1 million. The bizarre scam idea caught the attention of corporate Kroger employees, who immediately reached out to the local law enforcement after noticing fraudulent transactions.
The Scams
Due to the strict imposition of store policies by authorities, most of the stores have a return or exchange policy.
Brown utilized this policy to make money in just two weeks in December 2020.
According to the police, while Brown was working at the grocery store, he created more than 40 returns for items that were non-existent and put them on credit cards.
The price of the non-existent products ranged from $75 to more than $87,000.
Based on the police investigation, the 19-year-old suspect used this money to buy two vehicles, clothes, shoes, and a gun.
According to the New York Post, Brown had scammed the store for more than $980,000.
Collin Flynn, Gwinnett County detective, gave intrinsic details regarding the case and how the 19-year-old suspect nearly got away with the arrest.
Gwinnett Corporal Collin Flynn shared that this person stealing decided to go big, Fox6News reported.
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He also added that the employee was essentially creating fake items, taking and returning those so-called items he created to a credit card that he had and just making up prices for those items.
The first part of his almost million-dollar grocery store scam started in the range of 10 dollars, and as he continued doing the scam, the prices went up until he made a return of 87,000 that returned to the credit card.
Flynn also mentioned that it seems like this was a rare case wherein things snuck through the cracks and the individual was able to get away with a large amount of money in a short period of time, CNN reported.
Based on the latest report by the law enforcement officials, despite the fact that Brown returned most of the money that he was able to get, still, he will be facing a charge of theft for taking it.
According to the Gwinnett District Attorney's Office, Brown will be facing a misdemeanor charge of theft, which is punishable by up to 12 months in prison and a $1,000 fine.
Moreover, the sentenced person can be required to complete a number of courses which could help them make their life choices better.
Aside from the courses, the suspect facing the charge is also required to complete community services.
In addition, the consequences of Brown's grocery store scam are that he will now have a permanent criminal record and will mostly be excluded from carrying firearms and seeking specific types of employment.
