Stoughton IKEA Manager, Workers Stole $65,000 In Recall Scam: PD

STOUGHTON, MA — An IKEA manager and two employees were arrested after police said they were involved in a $65,000 return scam.

Manager Jonathan Mejia, 19, and employees Noah Duarte, 20, and Eboni Gillard, 20, all of Brockton, were charged with larceny over $1,200 and conspiracy.

On Dec. 2, the store's loss prevention team told Stoughton Police that a suspicious amount of money had gone missing from the store. Employees told police they had reason to believe Gillard was involved in the scheme. She was fired and taken into custody on an unrelated charge, Lt. John Bonney said.

Police worked with IKEA security and watched surveillance footage between October and December. The video, police said showed all three suspects taking advantage of a return policy on bureaus that had been recalled; the policy allowed full cash refunds of even a piece of the bureau being brought back to the store.

According to police, the suspects allowed prearranged customers to come into the store with pieces of the recalled bureau and return them for cash. Police said the suspects pretended not to know the customers.

"These transactions would be done with little to no communication to the pre-arranged customer," Bonney said.

All of these recalled transactions had to be be approved by a manager. According to police, Mejia approved all but two of these transactions and even scheduled Duarte and Gillard to work when he was working.

All three suspects were released on personal recognizance and are scheduled to appear in court on a later date.

Photos courtesy of Stoughton Police