Brooklyn Man Faces Charges For Allegedly Scamming Department Store For Years
GARDEN CITY, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) - Nassau County Police have arrested a Brooklyn man accused of engaging in a nearly five-year scheme to defraud J.C. Penney department stores in the New York metropolitan area.
Police said Eric Willis, 50, would switch price tags and then purchase the items at the lower price. Police say he then returned the items to a different store without a receipt and received a gift card for the original price.
Willis then purchased items with the gift card and added additional cash purchases to the transactions, according to police. All items were then returned for a full cash refund, police said.
Willis was arrested Thursday at the J.C. Penney in East Garden City. He's charged with grand larceny and scheme to defraud.
The scheme ran from Feb. 2009 through Thursday, police said. It is unclear how much money he amassed during that time.
Willis was due to be arraigned Friday at First District Court in Hempstead.
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