Duluth, Georgia — A suburban Atlanta teenager has been arrested on charges that he defrauded a supermarket where he worked of nearly $1 million over a two-week period. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports 19-year-old Tre Brown was arrested Thursday by Gwinnett County detectives on charges of felony theft.
He was released from jail on $11,200 bail.
Gwinnett County police spokesman Corporal Collin Flynn said Brown stole more than $980,000 over two weeks in December and January by fabricating more than 40 returns for non-existent items.
Cash from the returns, ranging in value from $75 to more than $87,000, was placed on credit cards, investigators said.
Tre Brown in undated photo
WGCL-TV
Police said Brown used the stolen money to buy two cars, clothes, guns and shoes. Before his arrest, the teen reportedly totaled one of the cars, a Chevrolet Camaro, Flynn said.
The investigation began after corporate employees of Cincinnati-based Kroger noticed the transactions.
Police said Brown stole the money while an employee tasked with flagging fraudulent transactions was on vacation.
A “large sum of money” was returned to Kroger following the arrest, but it wasn’t clear Thursday how much was recovered.
