An arrest report from the Metropolitan Police Department states that a manager at a Smith’s Food & Drug shop in Las Vegas is suspected of taking over $100,000 in cash.
According to the report, customer service manager Mackenzie Gilles of Smith’s at 2540 S. Maryland Parkway admitted to taking almost $89,000 since December, according to a district manager who spoke with police about the incident.
However, an audit by Smith’s on February 21 revealed that the business was short about $122,407 in cash.
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During her shift, Gilles’s responsibilities include taking money out of the “cash in/out machine” and placing it in a safe, the self-checkout kiosks, or the numbered cash registers.
Authorities were informed by the store’s district manager that a fingerprint was required in order to make a withdrawal or deposit.
After pulling reports for self-checkout machines, the “cash in/out machine” and the safe, the store’s loss prevention specialist narrowed the search on the store’s cameras to Gilles, who was allegedly observed on the footage making withdrawals from the self-checkout machines and placing the money into a blue cash bag similar to those used in a bank.
The report states that once Gilles had the money in hand, she would then walk to an area without surveillance and spend between 30 seconds and 2 minutes in the area before proceeding to the safe
Similarly, the specialist told police that Gilles would also withdraw money from the “cash in/out machine,” which requires fingerprint access, then stop in the same area without surveillance footage for between 30 seconds and 2 minutes before emerging out of the area and back into view of the camera.
The report states that the specialist told police that when they interviewed Gilles about the missing money and presented her with the evidence they had, Gilles “immediately admitted to taking a large amount of money but estimated it was approximately $89,000.”
Gilles told Las Vegas police that she began taking money from the store “due to having financial struggles and being the only person working in her household,” the report stated.
Gilles, who reported she is a mother of five children, told police that she would take $100 bills from the self-checkout machines and proceed to the area where the safe is located.
Police wrote in the report that Gilles told officers she used the money to pay bills and said she “did not have any more of the money, indicating it had all been spent.”
