Two teenage employees of a San Angelo, Texas Walmart have been charged with orchestrating a complex theft scheme involving fake lottery transactions.

The alleged theft, believed to be over a million dollars, was uncovered through a joint investigation by San Angelo police and Walmart's internal investigators. The suspects, Carmelo Daniel Amigleo and Ryan Munoz, both 18, are facing charges of theft greater than $300,000. The investigation was initiated after Walmart's Global investigative team detected suspicious lottery activity, leading them to identify the two suspects and involve local authorities.

From FOX-TV in West Texas:

Walmart Global Investigator Clint Lee told the detective he reviewed Walmart CCTV and reviewed the secure database computer platform, which showed Grant making the fake transactions, then pocketing cash or transferring funds onto a debit card in his name. Lee said those transactions were between $10 and $1,500.

Some of the transactions started out as legitimate customer winning lottery transactions, but according to the affidavit, Grant would key in a different dollar amount at the Walmart register. In some instances, Grant would take winning tickets, not scan them into the Texas Lottery terminal, then keep the winning ticket after paying out a customer.

For example, according to the affidavit, on Feb. 18, 2024, a legitimate customer had winnings for $110, but Grant keyed in $310 for a loss to the store of $200, that he then pocketed.

Lee said Grant took approximately $76,165 from Feb. 18, 2024, to April 28, 2024, and that amount was only what was calculated within that particular time frame.

Grant left Walmart April 29, 2024, "to pursue other job opportunities."

On Aug. 2, 2024, Amigleo told the detective he "was taught the lottery fraud scheme to steal money from Walmart," by Grant and he watched Grant on several occasions when took money from the register after completing fraudulent lottery transactions
Read more here: https://www.myfoxzone.com/article/ne...8-a2688cd11e28