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Caught Making False Merchandise Returns at Work

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  • 10-21-2014, 09:50 PM
    notsopeachy
    Caught Making False Merchandise Returns at Work
    My question involves criminal law for the state of: Oregon

    I recently was caught stealing from my employer. I would return items that were bought by customers, without the items present, and load the return value onto a card used for store credit. I would then purchase things in the store under my employee account using the store credit. The total of the items returned and store credit used was $1,504.58.

    I was called into my managers office and had a conference call with her and the LP from HQ. After it was clear what the conversation was about and that all the breadcrumbs very clearly led to me, I admitted what I had done. I wrote out an expression of guilt, the LP on the line (who was surprisingly nice) told me to include my feelings about what I had done. The entire thing was handled internally and no outside law enforcement was called in.

    Once the conversation was done I offered to return any items I had with me that I had bought with the store credit, they said that was a good place to start and they would note that I offered it. I was then, very politely, escorted out of the building by my manager. She went out of her way to not make it obvious I was being escorted out.

    I realize non of the niceties they showed me will matter for whatever comes next, I just felt it was part of the story I needed to tell.

    What can I expect in the future and will my admission end up helping or hurting my case?
  • 10-21-2014, 10:03 PM
    jk
    Re: I Got Caught Steeling from My Employer
    you need a crystal ball to know what to expect. It could be anything from nothing to a demand for the $1500 to the police coming to issue a citation or arrest you.

    an admission might have helped if they really don't intend on having you prosecuted but if they do intend on having you prosecuted, a confession is a really bad thing.
  • 10-21-2014, 10:45 PM
    adjusterjack
    Re: I Got Caught Steeling from My Employer
    Quote:

    Quoting notsopeachy
    View Post

    What can I expect in the future and will my admission end up helping or hurting my case?

    A written confession gives the prosecutor a slam dunk conviction.

    Theft of property valued at more than $750 is a class C felony punishable by up to 5 years in prison and up to $125,000 in fines.

    You should have just denied everything and kept your mouth shut.

    You'd have been fired anyway, but "breadcrumbs" might fall a bit short as evidence. Without your confession, prosecution might not have been possible.
  • 10-22-2014, 03:22 AM
    Disagreeable
    Re: I Got Caught Steeling from My Employer
    I nailed an employee doing that once. I just fired her with the agreement she sign over her last paycheck as restitution. I consulted upper management and LP how they wanted it handled.
  • 10-22-2014, 05:46 AM
    cbg
    Re: I Got Caught Steeling from My Employer
    My husband caught an employee stealing from him once, and it was just about the same value once the audit was done. The employee was immediately fired; my husband agreed not to file charges and to provide a neutral reference on condition that the employee reimburse every penny immediately - if not, all bets were off. The employee did so.

    However, that doesn't mean the same thing is guaranteed here. As someone said above, you could be looking at anything from zero to sixty here. Though I think you can pretty much count on being turned down for unemployment.
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