it's nothing that obvious what he does is he uses this prop right there he used that once this is this is lost and found stuff that shouldn't have been down there but this envelope was in there and he's he's no reason to really go in there unless a customer says hey I left my passport here and there's one in there but this is so out of policy it's not even funny and another issue is that they were keeping all of the lost and found which this place had collected a lot of lost and found I'm talking you know birth certificates IDS you know just sentimental documents everything from the copy center flash drives it was exploding out of the same got a GM uh huh my uh he just went on L O a OK um what is that 29th leave of absence OK um he basically job abandoned but you know how those rules go uh he didn't contact anybody but then somebody got a hold of them through HR and they put them on leave that's so so I get notification from our bank uh huh and it goes through another person who works in corporate says hey we got three deposits outstanding uh huh and it's from uh starts at the end of February so I'm like two weeks behind on this notification alright uh huh I request to the store to this GM send me your garda log that shows they're signed for it Garda comes picks them up once a week and then our weekly deposit log so he sends that to me and they look fine look like they're picked up and gone so I'm thinking oh it's not our fault must be the garda they have a camera system so I have to verify and confirm right so I'm watching it and in any given week you get seven business days Carter comes once a week he gets seven business days so they should pick up a minimum of of seven bags so guard comes in you're supposed to pick up seven bags he scans six it's clears a day in the video camera right in there right over top he scans he has to enter them all does it six times so he leaves with six we have paperwork that shows he scanned 6 not 7 so we have one missing just in that example for $920 mm hmm so the suspect here is the GM and um is and how long has has that been going on yeah it started the first deposit missing is the date um what is it 2:29 2:29 yeah and it's been going every week since yes well it escalated obviously yeah so so in the beginning it was one bag yeah and then how how did it escalate it started one bag well was sales date 2:26 that was the first one sales day so we have 11 bags missing and that's the total loss we have right now okay and everything that's occurred after this he went on L a shortly after this cause I started sticking my nose into it hey send me the logs send me this he knew he was in big trouble and nothing happened after 3:17 no okay I started inquiring about 3:23 21 and it stopped and it complete well he left yeah and okay he left and and it stopped what day did he leave uh his last day worked I think was 3:29 3:29 but it nothing happened no from 3:29 we're clean 3:29 we're clean okay deposits picked up in the bank okay the only person let me show you the safe so you get a little grass I wish I could open it for you got a problem with this so I have to get a lot of this out so here's the safe uh huh this is where the deposits were kept and this is where the deposit I'm sorry yeah that's where they are yep okay that's where they are this is just your safe funds this is where they keep all the money throughout the day where they get changed so they never have to go in there it's a separate so at the end of the day they get this count it and then put it in there nope nope nope no the safe fund is what you operate your business with okay it's like what you put in the drawers right and then you need change throughout the day that's that's what that is the deposits are at the end of the night like tonight when he comes in he's gonna pull all the drawers and then you know subtract the hundred dollars that we start the bank with you know the drawer and then the rest of it is our profit the closet and then he seals it in the bag and they put it in there there's a process for that got it it's a two person process um so but this was not this was not secured like this and it's not supposed it's supposed to work like that where garda comes in puts in the second key well I found out you know obviously after the fact that you just pull up the handle and the deposits were accessible so it wasn't secure it wasn't secure was this door secure oh yeah that door is always closed okay so only people who have access to this door will have access to that yep yep key entry and there's only there's there's five people in the building that held a key so that'd be the general manager sales manager well uh yeah sales manager um he went to print marketing so let's see the tech soup they don't have a sales manager right now so it'd be the general manager the tech suit uh Mike the MIS and then you've got two two print marketing suits that have a key but you can eliminate almost all of them uh one and the reason is the print marketing soups never came in here during my investigation from 2 20 six the thingy I never even saw them come in here and they would have no need to they probably don't want to come in here uh cause they got enough business over there the tech soup uh he closes about every night he's here right now doing I can eliminate him um he never came in here well no he came in here all he closed but he had no interest in that meaning he would the the way the process works is um he prepares the deposit he leaves the money here and then a second person comes in this is our process the company second person comes in they verify it so he's not stealing right they verify it they put it in the bag while he's here and they seal it and the verifier throws it in there okay so it one's verifying the other and that's the process and then they're really consistent on it about 90% of the time I did see a couple days where the uh the person didn't come in and verify and he verified his own deposit so I already chewed him out for that but um because it kind of leaves you you know yeah yeah especially if there's money missing from it you think I'm gonna talk to you yeah uh anyway so the thing about Dwayne he's he's in here a lot but the videos the cameras right there and it shows what he's doing he's preparing deposit here he doesn't go down there until he throws the deposit in and Dwayne is the person that you're most suspicious of no Dwayne is he's clear he's clear he's clear he's the Texan the guy I'm suspicious of it's so obvious with I'll show you a clip okay the GM he's got a drug problem there's no question about this everybody I mean I talk to the key holders I go anything different going on and that's another story that's he says he's in the hospital he's in rehab anyway um I don't know that for a fact but he the GM is the only one well first let me explain the video the video here because there's so much dead time in this room mm hmm you could go 6 7 hours in a day while we're open for business no one comes in here door closed alright so for me to for us to have to watch video for that would be yeah just skip forward until somebody's in here yeah but you don't know but the way it's set up it's motion activated so as soon as that door comes open the the video backs up maybe two seconds mm hmm and then it it starts recording okay and then you see the door open you see the people come in so what I saw was the GM coming in uh going into that deposit so when he's here bending down digging around into the deposit uh from that angle it's really difficult to see exactly what's going on it's not like stealing from a register and you get the camera but you don't see him put it in the pocket it's nothing that obvious what he does is he uses this prop right there he used that once this is this is lost and found stuff that shouldn't have been down there but this envelope was in there and he's he's no reason to really go in there unless a customer says hey I left my passport here and there's one in there but this is so out of policy it's not even funny it's not how we handle it but anyway that bag was down there and that's one of the things he messed with and he would be down in there with the deposits mm hmm and all of a sudden he walks out here and goes into his office with that bag and then comes back and puts it in so also he takes that bag with him yeah OK takes it into his office there this does this have cameras that's the that's the manager's office yeah the cameras there but does that camera see anything no no there's no camera in there oh there's no camera in there you're not gonna see it there there is no clear concealment of the deposit bags I'll tell you that right now OK what the only the way you that the only thing we have is kind of like a process of elimination the person you can't accuse somebody of stealing something if they never went in there right he's the only one and he did it time after time after time what's your name Sir Anthony Anthony you're under arrest you have a you have an arrest warrant okay for what sir I just is there any guns in here no sir okay just stay right where you're at you're under arrest for felony charges out of the city of West Palm Beach and referenced in fraudulent nope that was for that was for Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office yes so charges for the city of West Palm Beach come on out come on out no come on out put your hands on top of the car they're new they're new you you got arrested on the 12th right for Palm Beach County that was for schemes to defraud and using other people's property things like that right this is for something completely different city of West Palm Beach charges city of West Palm Beach all right so would you rather take this take this off and I'll cuff you I know it sucks dude but this is this is what it is brother yeah I guess I understand that you got you got some keys on you yeah okay I'll get your phone I will get your phone you wanna take this off it just be easier more comfortable if you wanna take that off it's fraud stuff it's nothing violent you're not you know it ain't you're not I think he probably wants to I let I give it a shot it's probably worth talking to him about um so I'm recording um I'm the detective assigned to this investigation okay uh you understand that you're obviously under arrest you have the right right to remain silence um that anything you say may and will be used against you in a court of law do you understand that yes sir okay so before we get started though um right now it's the time for me to ask you questions and for you to answer whatever you want to answer okay um the allegations are that were you an employee of Staples yeah I work for Staples okay and then what's your date of birth Anthony mine um how long do you work for Staples I worked for Staples I started with them in New York um and uh what's that is April 2023 since April 2023 how long have you worked at the Staples here in this Staples here I came um I think it was in around August 2023 somewhere in there okay August between August and September okay so you started around August or September yeah okay that date had moved around a couple times it was initially supposed to be October but it was earlier okay what's your title that's the a general manager for this location here are you still employed for growth market um no uh at at the well at this time I was on a extended medical leave I took very ill um okay my doctor took me out of work uh that you know was you know probably three months I've been out I have not returned and I wasn't um you know due to uh the job to and just the certain you know the conditions of what what's going on at me you know was a big attributor to what made me sick I you know my physician had recommended that I find a different job like what was it about the job that you don't have to tell me about your physical ailments but right what was it about the job that would make you physically ill so um just uh very um strenuous uh shifts there was a lot the company went through some very major um realignments and shifts changes to their operational structures and personnel structures functional structures of personnel um you know in the time since I got there you know I was um brought there under the pretense and an agreement part of why I accepted it was because I was told it was a turnkey operation and in that it was going to be um it's transitioning to a growth market model so upon going there we we started getting bombarded with um very high level um visits from corporate from all over the country um you know from the investment group and with that leading up to it it would be fire drills to just prepare make preparations clean the store get all things just perfect and I mean working open to close for days weeks at a time for that and then there would be the visits and then there would be a a long list of uh initiatives and and to get obviously executed after the visit for their instructions that would happen probably you know at 1.34 times a month on top of that um you know my this the district um and company did a whole realignment to where we had a new district manager new divisional leader and it was very aggressive and this uh particular location and area and the surrounding stores hadn't gone through the transition I'm just trying to set the so so you you have a stressful job I have a stressful job people have stressful jobs right do you have any idea and and just this is the time where you can help yourself is you have any idea why a detective will be talking to you right now and before you answer please please uh huh do you have any idea why I would be here talking to you specific to Staples no sir no so if if Staples management uh how many managers did you have under you at Staples uh so my direct reports my how many people had access and a key to the cash room at Staples I'd say other than myself yep there were of I think four four other people okay I mean and that's just during a time mind you like I was telling you before there were many visits with many managers at different levels you know whether they're regional divisional in and out of that store very frequently okay the allegations is that there's money missing and just before you answer I've been working this case now for quite some time right okay so the allegations would you know what there will be any allegations that there will be money missing from the cash room of Staples I can tell you what I am privy to regarding um the discrepancies because I was involved with investigating them um probably I don't remember how long before I went out sick but um I remember we provided all the information and the the uh you know the uh armor carrier logs and you know just everything that went along with that and at at that point um yeah that's as far as I was um involved with that now with that I know that was um as a result to it being reported in the through the system that they um hadn't received um deposits that were did you ever did you ever take any money from Staples in before you answer right understand that I've been dealing with this for now a few months did you ever take any cash deposits from Staples I did not take any cash deposits from Staples and I understand anybody else take cash deposits from Staples not to my knowledge not that I've seen or I'm aware of I can I can tell you um have you ever come to Staples in a day or time that you were not supposed to be working at Staples sir I would come to Staples uh off my schedule there at different times all the time and and as related to what I was just explaining to you um I would come there as needed as a you know so if there's a video of you walking out of that cash room with cash deposits you're saying that that video would not be truth I'm saying that that's not what it I did not take any cash deposits out of Staples now and I was I had explained over the phone dealing with the loss prevention um Ted and other and and you know as far as you know some of the concerns that I had regarding the safekeeping regarding you know the the process because they were on process and I was doing my best to get things on process to avoid the types of issues and the discrepancies that we were going through at that time and what would be that what what would be one thing that you did to avoid that so in that um one of the main things is that in that particular safe um there is a an internal safe as well like so when you open the main safe there's another one and it's connected to a shoot and the shoot goes down just like every other retail I've been doing retail a very long time and that's how it's supposed to be managed so that way once it's dropped it's secured until the armored car person comes and picks it up with their key um and you and you know and you have a second key well what they were doing here is just uh preparing the cash and then putting it um in the safe you know putting it um at in the bottom which wasn't locked um they wouldn't lock it it would be just set on day lock all the time the one time I actually locked it they had a connection because they couldn't open it they didn't have the key so I found the key for them purchase safe and another issue is that they were keeping all of the lost and found which this place had collected a lot of lost and found I'm talking you know birth certificates IDS you know just sentimental documents everything from the copy center flash drives it was exploding out of the same um section that they were putting you know stacking their cash uh deposits up on so I was working very hard to consolidate that lost and found to try to reach out to the people who who I felt like it maybe their marriage certificate or death certificate to try to get it back to them you know because a lot of these are customers that I was recognizing I was starting to you know they're regulars they didn't even know they call about documents and they'd be told that it wasn't there because they were so unorganized they didn't have a process for keeping track and following up on these things so I worked very hard to to do that you know to get that um consolidated and to get on process with the cash handling and I made it very very clear on the team as far as the expectation once I you know they were um they had a discrepancy on some of the cash drops I was at that point starting to make sure that everybody was on process Tim was or Ted rather was say the same thing he was telling me you know let you know let's make sure we all understand the the the correct process on that at no time there have been times where because of where the lost and found was situated there there were times where I have gone in there to to recover a document or a belonging of that belong to a customer that left it there and I would bring it and get it get it to them or mail it to them so if there was a a like if I if you're if I'm being seen taking something out and it's not like helping or assisting with the transition of a cash drop then it's was in managing like the lost and found and managing uh you know the just the excessive amount of of uh liability and all the all those documents so there so you're saying that there was excessive amount of liability with the lost found uh huh and you're saying that there was a kind of a mess that's my word it's a big mess between uh the cash and that for years I mean you these things were but then but then you but then you decide to merge the cash with the lost and found no no no it was already done it was already that's not what I was told here's what the allegations are well that's not true at all that is not true at all listen keep checking the go back I I swear to you if you continue digging in the investigation for that fact of how they were managing lost and found and you will see from before long before I got there uh cabinet as the lost and found with no um additional like separation between you know that stuff and the uh the deposit up but I one thing I did was made them put it all of the lost and found into like a consolidated bag that said lost and found on it you know and make them uh try to upkeep the lost and found Ledger as as frequently as possible you know as least consistently but that that I there's I did not merge that those two things together I was trying to break them apart and to get rid of eliminate the lost and found and then going forward instead of automatically putting something that was found in there and forgetting about it make an effort to contact to look up identify the person and reach out and let them know that you have their their their item that and that's what we were doing up to that point but they had things going back from like 2013 2014 in there and that was the issue and I had expressed this concern to to to my direct supervisor to Ted as well at no point did I did did I go in there and take money out out of there I mean I I you know I've been I've been going through enough and it's been hard enough like what what's been going on was I was working open to close for for months on end since I started there no days off and my family is out here we haven't we were we weren't even able to settle into a permanent home yet I have seven kids at my wife we weren't even supposed able supposed to be like that for this long but I've been obligated to be here which I've done in good faith did my job did everything I was asked gone to other locations to help do you wanna be truthful today or am I just gonna listen to you talk and I'm just a straight shooter okay so so so here's it in regards to money that is missing from the safe and you on video several times at least four that I counted that I saw where there's discrepancies in the cash you walk into the vault you remove the cash deposits and you hide them whether it's underneath a folder or they're under something else so do you wanna talk about the truth or do you wanna because the truth will set you free I'm a reasonable person and when there's no victim there's no crime Anthony so if staple decides not to be a victim any longer you're not gonna see Detective Palacios anymore but if I'm gonna sit here and I'm gonna have to accept you lying to me I think that's a little bit unfair I think that's disrespectful and we'll just we'll just leave it at that and you stick to your story if you wanna be truthful and say okay listen detective we have been going through some tough times and I went through this and I was against the wall because I will probably do the same thing Anthony if I have to feed my family but please don't lie to me after I've been looking at this for months now cause we're at the end of July and this is back from February and March I believe it was and there's several deposits that are missing and I don't know if you knew but there Anthony I'm giving you the facts and the truth the truth is documented so I'm not making it up understood so and there's videos where where it's it's on a sensory basis that when it senses somebody in the room it goes off and it starts recording I've reviewed those videos okay I've reviewed the consistency and I saw you grab deposits from underneath the safe the safe that you're explaining I saw you logging in on the clipboard whatever you were logging I saw you pull out certain things I've already gone through that okay I'm trying to understand why you did it so that I can pass along the information and you can potentially honestly help yourself I'm not a judge I'm not a jury I just collect information I review information and I'm I'm pretty decent at it I'm not gonna say I'm the best I'm also very reasonable and I will share whatever message you have for me to share with Staples and management but just please understand that this is this is a decent time for us to talk about the truth so that you can potentially help yourself by moving on out of this so that you can take care of your seven kids and your wife sir and I I very much respect that and I respect you and your and your time too yeah but I this is clearly a big misunderstanding um a a big big misunderstanding and I am not going to say that I've taken something that I haven't taken on July 18th, 2024 this case surfaced at a Staples store in West Palm Beach Florida the general manager did not slip cash into his pocket to hide the theft instead he reached for a strange prop already sitting inside the safe an envelope of lost passports and birth certificates left behind by customers under Florida statue 8 1 2.014 theft has degree thresholds theft value between 20,000 and 100,000 dollars is grand theft second degree that single dollar figure turned this case from a misdemeanor into a felony investigators eventually calculated a total loss of $30,000 that loss was spread across 11 separate missing deposit bags investigators trace the first missing deposit back to late February the losses then continued week after week through March that documented timeline is what separates an ongoing scheme from a single mistake here the pattern escalated from one missing bag to 11 bags total that escalation itself became evidence of a continuing scheme it showed a continuing scheme not a single lapse in judgment that distinction is exactly why prosecutors added a second charge that second charge was scheme to defraud Florida Statute 8 1 7.034 targets systematic ongoing conduct conduct meant to defraud someone of money over time a single missing bag could plausibly be explained as an accounting error 11 bags disappearing over several weeks cannot be explained the arrest itself relied on a warrant already reviewed and signed by a judge that judicial sign off satisfies the Fourth Amendment's probable cause requirement for arrest no warrantless search or seizure issue exists here because the warrant preceded the arrest before any interrogation began the detective properly read the manager his Miranda rights that included the right to remain silent and the warning that anything he said could be used in court the manager confirmed he understood those rights then chose to keep talking anyway that decision falls squarely under Miranda versus Arizona decided in 1966 once rights are waived voluntarily anything said afterward becomes fully admissible evidence a warning only needs to be given once not repeated every time a suspect keeps talking during questioning the detective told the manager quote when there's no victim there's no crime that statement oversimplifies how Florida criminal law actually works once probable cause exists and charges are filed the state controls the prosecution not the victimized company a retailer choosing not to pursue restitution does not automatically end a filed criminal case tactics implying otherwise are generally permitted under Fraser versus cup decided in 1969 that ruling allows investigators to apply psychological pressure and even overstate their evidence the legal limit is that officers cannot make explicit threats or false promises of leniency this exchange walks close to that line but it does not cross it the detective never actually promised any specific benefit in exchange for a confession despite facing two felony counts the manager ultimately received two years of probation not prison time Florida sentencing guidelines use a point based score sheet weighing prior record and offense severity and restitution potential a first time non violent felony offender frequently scores low enough for a judge to allow probation the dollar value here $30,000 kept this as second degree grand theft not the higher first degree tier that classification difference is very likely what kept prison time off the table restitution Destaples also factored into why prison was not pursued judges also weigh whether a defendant has family dependence when setting probation conditions that factor was explicitly part of this manager's sentencing discussion that is a mitigating factor courts may consider not a legal excuse for the theft itself grading this case requires looking past just the detective and the suspect the detective earns a grade of a minus he issued a complete Miranda warning and confirmed understanding before any real questioning began he also built his entire interrogation on documented video evidence not Assumption or bluff the only Mark against him is rhetorical not legal framing this as staples simply choosing whether to remain a quote victim oversells his actual authority the former manager earns a grade of D he waved his right to remain silent then offered a shifting explanation for reviewed footage legally that combination is precisely what prosecutors need to prove intent to defraud Staples corporate loss prevention earns a grade of B minus investigators correctly used camera time stamps and deposit logs to reconstruct the entire timeline but the underlying drop safe was left unlocked as standard daily practice that same safe doubled as a dumping ground for years of customer lost and found items that combination of lack security and clutter created the opportunity this manager exploited so if one unlocked drawer in your own business could hide $30,000 for months would you notice before your bank did first physical access controls matter as much as background checks during hiring a drop safe is only secure if it stays locked under one verified process every time second once Miranda rights are read silence functions as a legal shield not as an admission of guilt volunteering an explanation for specific video evidence rarely improves a suspect's position third an escalating pattern of small losses is itself legal evidence of a scheme treat any repeat discrepancy as a signal to audit immediately not a reason to wait until the total grows larger let us know your thoughts on this case in the comments below thank you for watching and don't forget to subscribe for 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