Employees Accused of Conducting Theft Scheme That Caused Over $100K in Losses for Rochester Electronics Store
Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News)- Two employees have been charged in a theft scheme that cost a Rochester store more than $100,000 in losses.
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The Olmsted County Attorney’s Office filed the charges on Friday. Both men are accused of running the scheme from Nov. of 2022 through January of last year, the criminal complaint says.
Rochester police responded to the unspecified store in southwest Rochester in January of 2023 on the report of employees assisting with thefts.
Two Employees Accused of Giving out over $100K in Free Devices to Boost Commissions in Rochester Theft Scheme
A manager at the store identified the employees as 26-year-old Tavontae Timmy Kidd-Starks and 28-year-old Ajuda Mastar Nywesh, the complaint says. Both men are from Rochester.
The complaint says the two employees would open new lines for the same group of individuals who had phone numbers and pass codes for existing accounts.
Members of the group of people coming into the store would pay the sales tax on the transaction, then leave the store with new devices without paying for them, the charges say.
One manager estimated Kidd-Starks and Nywesh gave out over 100 phones, tablets and watches. In exchange for opening lines, the defendants would get increased commission payments on the fake sales, according to the court documents.
Kidd-Starks is accused of costing the store $36,849.55 in losses during the scheme. Nywesh is alleged to have given out $64,199.38 in free merchandise and services, the complaint says.
Court documents do not say how many individuals were receiving the free devices or how they obtained the account information of existing customers.
Each man is charged with a count of felony theft by swindle and felony theft-deprive of corporate property. Kidd-Starks and Nywesh are due to make their first court appearances in October.
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