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Boardman Men's Wearhouse employee charged with theft
By Bruce Walton
BOARDMAN
A corporate probe accuses Samuel Strine, former manager of Men’s Wearhouse here, of taking approximately $30,000 from the store.
Strine was arraigned June 30 on a felony theft charge before Judge Joseph M. Houser of Mahoning County Area Court after his arrest June 28.
Police were dispatched to the store, located on Market Street, after an investigation revealed Strine, of Carlise Avenue, Youngstown, had taken approximately $30,000 from the store over the past two years, a report said.
The store’s corporate headquarters became suspicious after finding Strine ranked No. 1 in cash refunds and decided to conduct an investigation on his cash refunds. They also observed 16 of the transactions processed during his employment occurred after store hours and a number of gift cards issued from either a return or exchange were processed on one account and redeemed on another.
Dion Spencer, the corporation’s investigator, looked into Strine’s activity and found evidence of fraud. The investigation revealed Strine was issuing returns on items from previous customers, reselling them at a discounted rate and pocketing the difference. Spencer brought this evidence to township authorities who arrested Strine.
Strine posted a $4,000 bond the same day as his arrest.
Strine denied taking any of the money for himself.
“While I stole no cash, I admitted to returning past transactions to use store credit or cash to repurchase items for other customers at little to no cost to them,” he said in a written statement. “I also returned damaged items of my own in exchange for new products, without the consent from my regional managers.”
Detective Greg Stepuk of the Boardman Police Department said he was unable to give any more information until the corporation provided more details from its investigation. Strine now awaits his preliminary hearing at 9 a.m. Aug. 16.