Clerk Busted For Stealing Toys & Treasure
A cashier at a Toys R Us store in Rego Park wound up on the naughty list this holiday season for allegedly stealing cash and merchandise, prosecutors said.
Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown announced on Thursday Dec. 18 that Shontia Jones, a cashier in the Rego Center Mall Toys R Us, allegedly stole more than $56,000 in toys, clothing, games and other goods from the store.
Jones allegedly created more than 1,100 online orders using fake coupon codes and had the items shipped to her home and family members’ homes in Far Rockaway between June and December.
“The defendant is accused of going on a virtual shopping spree in which she is alleged to have accessed the store’s marketing system to create coupons and then order an array of merchandise,” Brown said. “The defendant is now facing significant jail time for her alleged actions.”
According to the criminal complaint Jones allegedly created coupon codes about twice a week and used them to purchase baby formula, baby clothes, disposable diapers, video games, board games, toys and more. The coupon codes that were allegedly fraudulently created are supposed to be used by customer service representatives and are given to customers who are not fully satisfied with a purchase. Those codes can be used like cash on the Toys R Us website, where Jones allegedly did all of her shopping.
Jones is alleged to have shipped more than $45,000 worth of product to her house in Far Rockaway and another $10,000 worth of goods sent to her sister’s home, also in Far Rockaway, from the Toys R Us website.
According to the court records, Jones was caught when Toys R Us conducted an internal investigation and realized a large number of coupon codes had been created at the Rego Center Mall location.
Jones was arraigned last Tuesday, Dec. 16, before Queens Criminal Court Judge Deborah Stevens Modica on charges of second-degree grand larceny, second-degree criminal possession of stolen property and first-degree falsifying business records. She was granted supervised release and is due back in court on Jan. 29, 2015; she faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.
The investigation was conducted by the NYPD Queens North Grand Larceny Squad. Assisting the investigation was Assistant District Attorney Kevin Ramnarain, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney James W. Evangelou.
Prosecuting the case is Assistant district Attorney Robert J. Ferino, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Karen H. Rankin, and the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Investigations James Clark Quinn.
