Prosecuting the Theft of Gift Cards and Merchandise

My question involves criminal law for the state of: VA

Hi there, I've been the Assets Protection specialist for a new Target which opened up just a few months ago. As a result, I'm the only AP guy at my store currently, we have no security besides me and I'm the only person monitoring the security cameras.

Anyhow, for the past few months I've suspected an Electronics team member of theft. As a result, I took a look at our backlog and database of camera footage for the areas and times of his shifts. I also investigated his account when it came to cashier transactions he did at the Electronics til. Our records and our cameras indicated that he was taking gift cards and activating them himself at the till. There were about 18 instances which came to a total of $385. Furthermore, or surveillance cameras for the backroom also showed suspicious activity. Just the other day, I took him to the backroom for to interview him(with another witness on hand) and he freely admitted to the theft of gift cards. He signed our admission statement and also agreed to restitution. I know that on this specific crime, I can call the police and prosecute him quite easily if I wish to do so.

Before I do that however, I'd like to know if I have a case to prosecute him for even more. I believe this individual has made thefts in the thousands of dollars of electronics merchandise and in order to receive restitution or insurance for the losses, he would need to be prosecuted for this as well. The issue at hand and one I need to ask you is whether I actually have any credible evidence for this. On our surveillance cameras several instances show this person carrying in a cart of items to the electronics backroom.(this is part of his job duty) On the cart there is a white shopping bag with items he purchased.(Records and Surveillance confirms this). He then enters an area where there is no surveillance for about a minute. He then leaves the room with the cart which still has the shopping bag. I believe that this person took some of the items from the cart and placed it into the shopping bag while in that area with no surveillance. Unfortunately, there is no actual footage on most occasions that show him placing anything inside of the white bag. There is one occasion where the camera shows him placing something inside of the white bag from the cart, but it is impossible to tell what that item is. Our surveillance cameras also show this employee taking different items from the backroom(some games, movies, ipads) and placing them all together in a single area in the backroom as if he was creating his own stash. There are times he takes items from this stash and places it into a cart which is full of stock.(Again, something which is part of his job) After that unfortunately, there is no video evidence of him taking those items from the cart and the only video I have is the previously mentioned scheme with the cart and the camera blind spot. We have video evidence of him taking his white shopping bag into the employee room on several occasions but it's impossible to tell what is actually in the bag. I have interviewed other co workers and there is nobody who witnessed him committing any thefts.

When asked about these alleged thefts in my interview with him, he vehemently denied all of this and only admitted to the gift cards as mentioned earlier. So do you experts here think that I have a legitimate case for prosecution? Please be honest as this is a very important matter. My managers are on my ass constantly to try and make an insurance claim for these items and to try and get restitution. With that said, if I was to seek prosecution for non-gift card thefts, it will almost certainly go to trial and cost the company quite a bit of assets. Furthermore, if this employee is found not guilty there is a chance of a civil suit being levied against the company which will likely result in my termination. So, do I have enough to prosecute on my suspicions of these electronics thefts or just the gift card thefts? what would you recommend? Thank you.

It sounds like he can only be hit for each individual count on the gift cards. I would push for separate criminal charges for each act.

Whether the DA decides to push for each individual count or one as a whole, it doesn't really matter from the perspective of our store as it will make no difference in the insurance or restitution claims.

Thank you for your quick reply. Any other opinions would be welcome.

Also, if there are clear inventory shortages can that reasonably be used as evidence to link it to him or would I need clear evidence of those specific items being taken?

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Quoting robbypark

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Also, if there are clear inventory shortages can that reasonably be used as evidence to link it to him or would I need clear evidence of those specific items being taken?

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You need a confession. Just because shortage occurred doesn't mean the one team member was the only one doing it. I used to work for Target so I know how it goes. Where I was, the local cops would not take circumstantial cases like that.

You should be discussing this with your ETL-AP/APTL, your peers at a different store or whatever the heck they are calling the DAPTL/APBP these days. That's what they are there for. I learned a lot by asking questions.

P.S. If there is an area of your electronics stockroom with no coverage, get it covered. Use a covert if possible, that makes it easier to catch them as they don't think they are being watched.

They could charge them as individual counts or they could aggregate it all together to make it a more severe charge. It is not up to the store to decided that, it's not the store that is the plaintive party, it's the commonwealth.

If you believe that a crime has been committed and their might be more, let the police handle it.

I have to believe as free9man says, that corporate has policies on how to handle this. You are NOBODY as far as any legal action. Target certainly has lawyers to deal with such.

Actually, I suspect OP is the employee in this scenario.