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BERNALILLO — A Warrior Gas Station employee was charged with embezzling nearly $4,000.
Silencio Chacon, 55, of Rio Rancho, has been summoned for embezzlement at Warrior II gas station in Bernalillo.
Officers responded to an allegation of embezzlement involving a former employee, Chacon, according to a criminal complaint filed in court.
A manager told police they received a phone call from one of their regular customers who had just come through the drive-thru to purchase a pack of cigarettes. The customer stated that she handed the clerk cash for the cigarettes and saw him put the cash that she just handed to him in his left hand and not in the cash drawer, according to the complaint.
When the manager checked for the transaction, all she could find was a voided transaction in the amount of $41.68, the complaint stated. She told police she watched the video surveillance and saw Chacon enter four packs of cigarettes into the point-of-sale system and then void the transaction. The complaint cites the manager saying she talked with Chacon, who allegedly admitted that he had done this before but could not remember the date. He was immediately terminated from the Warrior II gas station.
An internal review of business records found multiple suspected transaction discrepancies involving missing funds between December and January, when Chacon was working the drive-thru, the complaint stated. The amount allegedly misappropriated by Chacon was $1,931 in cash, according to the complaint. Further review established that merchandise was released to customers without lawful payment being collected, and, as a result, the gas station sustained not only the direct cash loss of $1,931.92, but also a corresponding inventory loss equal to the retail value of the merchandise provided, therefore total financial impact on the business was therefore double the confirmed embezzled cash amount of $3,863, the complaint states.
Chacon could face three or more years in prison if he is convicted.
