A Michigan grocery store manager was charged with embezzling at least $750,000 from the store’s newly installed self-checkout terminals over 16 months.
Trevor Beaver, 31, is accused of taking the money from the Fresh Thyme Market in Troy, where he worked from July 2022 to Nov. 2023, according to a statement from Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel.
“The funds were stolen from newly installed self-checkout kiosks, which Beaver had access to,” the statement read.
Beaver allegedly scheduled himself as the only manager in charge of depositing the daily cash, even on his days off, allowing him to take the money.
“Retail theft doesn’t just impact Michigan businesses, but it hurts consumers when the retailer must raise prices to compensate for lost revenue,” Nessel said.
Beaver’s scheme was only discovered after an audit system for the machines was put into place in Oct. 2023.
One audit revealed an approximate $900,000 loss discrepancy between cash sales and deposits while $750,000 of the exorbitant loss was a result of Beaver’s theft, an investigation later revealed.
The disgraced employee admitted to the embezzling scheme when confronted by management, loss prevention, and the Michigan State Police.
Nessel insisted that all businesses should be cautious of theft inside their company.
“Businesses of all sizes should be enforcing even the most basic mechanisms for loss prevention,” Nessel said. “All stores that lack similar protections should heed this warning to protect themselves from falling victim next.”
“I am grateful for the collaborative work by the FORCE Team, the Michigan State Police, and Fresh Thyme to bring this criminal’s conduct to light,” she added. “As long as this pervasive issue exists, my department’s Organized Retail Crime Unit will continue to hold bad actors accountable.”
The former manager was charged with one count of Embezzlement over $100,000 and one count of using a computer to commit a crime.
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Beaver faces a maximum of 20 years or more to life in prison.
An arraignment date has not been set.
In December, a civilian employee in Texas was charged with defrauding the US Army out of $100 million and spending the money on luxury homes, cars and jewlery was working as a civilian financial program manager at Fort Sam Houston.
Janet Yamanaka Mello, 57, siphoned funds she received from the Army to herself using a business she created titled “Child Health and Youth Lifelong Development” throughout the seven-year scheme,
She was charged with five counts of mail fraud, four counts of engaging in a monetary transaction over $10,000 using criminally derived proceeds, and one count of aggravated identity theft.
In January Mello was allowed to retire with full benefits, even though she had been indicted by a federal grand jury.
The military admitted that there is nothing that can be done to withhold Mello’s benefits as they’re protected under a federal law that was held up in government bureaucracy.
