Friday, January 17, 2014
Con Artist Dupes Employees At Two Markets
An investigation is currently underway after the owner of a local market reported to authorities that she had been defrauded by a con artist.
The incident occurred Thursday at New Prospect Market on Pulaski Highway. The market owner reported to Lawrence County Sheriff’s deputies that a man had come into the store inquiring about $150 worth of oil he said he had previously ordered and paid for.
The owner said that the man followed her into the back room while she checked into the matter. She told deputies that she found a handwritten note on a bottle of oil stating that the man was due a full refund because they had failed to obtain the order for him.
The owner told deputies that she had assumed the note had been written by one of her employees, so she gave the man $150 in cash. She said it was not until after he left that she realized he had planted the note while she was not looking.
The owner told deputies that she had spoken with officials at Richland Trace Market and found that the man had pulled the same scam there, making off with another $150.
Deputies documented the incident and the investigation was relinquished to detectives with the department’s Criminal Investigation Division.
