Providence, RI: Convenience store owner admits $1.1M food stamp fraud
A Providence convenience store owner has pleaded guilty to $1.1 million in food stamp fraud. Sami Almuhtaseb, of Smithfield, pleaded guilty on Friday in U.S. District Court in Providence to conspiracy to commit fraud and money laundering. Prosecutors say the Oasis Market redeemed more than $2.7 million in benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program between November 2009 and December 2015. More than 72 percent of the transactions were for more than $50, even though federal officials say legitimate food stamp transactions at a convenience store rarely exceed more than $50. Federal authorities say at least $1.1 million were the result of fraudulent transactions. heraldcourier.com

Council Bluffs, IA: US Cellular employee charged with theft of over $30,000
A former U.S. Cellular employee has been charged with stealing nearly $30,000 in merchandise from his employer. Authorities have arrested and charged Sayeg Moreno Padilla, 21, with first-degree theft, a Class C felony. The Omaha resident has also been charged with ongoing criminal conduct, a Class B felony. On Monday, Judge Fagan set Padilla's bond at $10,000. Padilla is a Mexican national working in the U.S. with a temporary work visa, had worked for U.S. Cellular from Dec. 1, 2014, to July 1, 2015. Padilla allegedly created fraudulent accounts between the dates of May 6, 2015, and June 16, 2015. Padilla allegedly opened up a total of 12 fraudulent accounts under what U.S. Cellular officials believed to be false names or names that do not belong to any specific individual. nonpareilonline.com

Wall, SD: Suspect sought in theft of $10,000 of jewelry from Wall Drug
Pennington County Sheriff's investigators are hot on the trail of a group of people responsible for stealing $10,000 in jewelry from stores at the Wall Drug mall in Wall last week. The theft was initially reported on Wednesday, April 13 when store employees noticed the missing jewelry, valued at about $10,000, according to a release from Pennington County. Two days later, the thieves returned, but were recognized by an alert employee, who alerted management. The suspects were confronted and fled, but one dropped a purse that was recovered and contained information about the suspect vehicle, officials said. Deputies have used surveillance video to track the suspects, but no arrests have been made so far. kotatv.com

Michigan City, IN: Shoplifter Gets Caught, Guzzles Flea Medicine
A man at a Menards store in Michigan was caught carrying 19 boxes of K9 Advantix, a flea and tick preventive medication for dogs, past all of the cash registers, and security staff swooped in. Loss Prevention apprehended the man and contacted Police. According to the police report, he was confined to a separate room because security staff believed that he may have a knife. While waiting for the cops to show up, be began opening and drinking the flea medication. He also had an unidentified white pill, which the security staff couldn't prevent him from swallowing once they saw him put it in his mouth. That earned him the trip to the hospital that he wanted. The 19 boxes of flea medicine were valued at $239.90. The man said that he planned to sell him to pay his rent. consumerist.com

Pensacola, FL: Shoplifter tries to steal thousands in merchandise from Bealls
A thief tried to get away with thousands in merchandise and deputies need your help finding out who he is. Last Tuesday a man was caught on surveillance video stealing from a Bealls on Davis Highway. He walked out of the store with three thousand dollars in women's Nike apparel. The store's lost prevention officer went out in the parking lot to confront the man, but he dropped the merchandise and fled. weartv.com

Belfast, Ireland: Romanian Gang of shoplifters spared prison over pre-Christmas raid
The gang had carried out a pre-Christmas shoplifting raid in Coleraine. Shoes, coats and jeans worth hundreds of pounds were taken from four stores on December 12 last year. Last month sentencing had been deferred in their case after a judge asked to see if they had any criminal records in their homeland. A prosecutor said a number of people were spotted acting suspiciously and when police swooped on two vehicles they found a number of stolen items. The prosecutor said Nicula was wearing a pair of baggy tracksuit bottoms which were tied tightly at the knees underneath a long skirt. The trio had previously pleaded guilty to the offences. belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Clermont, FL: Two Walmart Associates arrested for theft of $700 in phones/electronics

 

Watch Nedap Retail's recent LPNN interview: Nedap's intelligent article surveillance solutions bridge the gap between high-performance loss prevention and a pleasant customer experience with smart features such as metal detectors, dashboarding, customer counting and much more. Hear from Wouter Ubbels, Director of Channel Sales Americas, and Pat O'Leary, VP and General Manager for Nedap North America.