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Former Store Employee Charged in Steal-and-Sell Scheme
A 30-year-old man who used to work at Manfredi Jewels’ New Canaan store allegedly stole more than $150,000 worth of Rolex watches and sold them on eBay.
New Canaan, Conn.--A 30-year-old man who used to work in a New Canaan, Connecticut jewelry store has been arrested for allegedly stealing watches from the store for a year and then selling them online.
He was arrested Friday after a long investigation by the department’s Investigative Section; he’s been charged with first-degree larceny.
The police said the thefts were uncovered after discrepancies showed up in late May between Manfredi’s inventory of Rolex watches and its sales reports.
A further investigation found that the discrepancies actually started only weeks after Shortell was hired at the store in 2016, continuing until just about the same time as his resignation in early June 2017.
Employee records and calendars also showed he was the only one working on days where suspicious entries were made in the retailer’s database that coincided with watches going missing.
A co-owner of the Manfredi Jewels in New Canaan declined to comment on the case, citing the open investigation.
The New Canaan police also examined Federal Express shipping records, finding that Shortell allegedly made shipments near or on the exact dates that watches disappeared from the store. The shipments were traced to an address in Ohio, and an investigation into that address and the business associated with it found watches being sold on eBay.
A search and seizure warrant was executed at the address, which appeared a number of times on the shipping labels even though no sales to customers were associated with those particular shipments, police said.
One Rolex watch has been recovered so far. More watches are being sought, and the investigation is ongoing.
Shortell was released on a court-set bond of $150,000. He is due again in court later this month.
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