SWEETWATER, Fla. – An assistant manager at the True Religion store inside the Dolphin Mall was arrested last week on accusations that he stole tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of merchandise from the store over a nearly year-long period, authorities said.
Sean Anthony Staples, 33, of Miami, was taken into custody Friday on a charge of organized scheme to defraud.
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According to his arrest report, a corporate employee of True Religion who oversees loss prevention reports was alerted about multiple transactions by Staples that had been flagged.
The employee told police that she reviewed surveillance video which showed Staples voiding multiple transactions and then giving the merchandise to a customer.
According to the police report, the total value of the fraudulent transactions, which have occurred since August 2022, was $43,889.23, including a transaction for $1,097.43 that was processed on Friday.
The corporate employee told police that Staples would scan the merchandise but then process the items as a return without receipt.
She said she was alerted to the transactions in April, but then discovered that the fraudulent transactions had been occurring since last August.
According to the arrest report, Staples provided a confession to a detective, however his full statement was redacted from the publicly released report.