A New Balance factory manager has reportedly been arrested and charged on a warrant for larceny of property valued over $1,200 and larceny from a building, after it was discovered he was stealing and reselling sneakers.
According to a report by the Eagle Tribune, 43-year old Wilton Suarez is accused of stealing thousands of dollars worth of running shoes from the company's South Union Street factory in Massachusetts and sending them to the Dominican Republic to be sold. The report suggests that Suarez had been stealing sneakers for several years, but workers at the factory "were hesitant to come forward and point out theft and fraud."
The Eagle Tribune reports:
"Since new management have taken over more people are coming forward and tipping security off about theft and fraud," Detective Patrick Noonan wrote.
Suarez is accused of taking at least two pairs of sneakers per day, bringing them back to his cubicle, concealing them and would "then put them in his bag before he leaves for the day," Noonan wrote.
"... Suarez apparently has made comments to some workers that he ships the sneakers to the D.R. and the people are always happy when he goes there and hands them out," according to the report.
New Balance security set up surveillance equipment and watched Suarez for two weeks as they witnessed him take sneakers such as the New Balance 990, which has not yet released. Additionally, the report states a New Balance security officer "has seen Suarez counting large sums of money at his desk, splitting the money into individual packs" and then leaving his cubicle.
Needless to say, Suarez is no longer employed by the Boston-based sneaker company.