Abuse of work Accomodations Program

[zerozero]

Hello everyone, I am from California, and I was previously employed at an electronics retailer. While working there, employees were given the option to buy drastically discounted items from suppliers. I worked at this store for a few years, and became friends with someone that actually owned their own electronics store. He suggested to me that i buy a large ammount of product, and then sell it to him, and we would both make a profit off of it. A friend of mine who also worked there said that he would help, so him and i both ordered about $4,000 worth of product, and then resold it. A few weeks later, we went through 2 other employees and did the same thing, I believe the total ammount that we spent all together is around $12000. Unfortunately, another employee that was moving out of the country did the same thing, except on a bigger scale, and sold it to the same retailer. Apparently it was discovered that the items ended up on Ebay, along with the serial numbers, which were tracked back to another employee (we didnt know that he was using other employees to buy product as well). So now an investigation has been launched, and although i no longer work there, i am sure i will be contacted soon as some employees have already been questioned. I actually was the one that received the check from my friend (who fronted me the money) and had it in my account, i then wrote out 3 other checks to pay off everyone else so that they could have the orders withdrawn from their accounts. I am afraid that one of the persons i used will admit what happened. Now i am worried about what kind of legal action can be taken against my friend and myself. Im over 18, so i know i cannot be tried as a minor, but aside from that i have a clean record. I had no idea that this was such a serious issue, and i dont know what to say if i am investigated or what my rights are. Can anyone please tell me what laws, if any i broke, and what i should do? From what i have heard, it is a federal crime since the product was shipped across state lines via Ebay. Any help is greatly appreciated, thank you.


edit: i should note that i was required to sign on the order form that said i would not sell the products before one years time, and i could only use them for myself.

 

[zerozero]

Could anyone please help me out here? I just want to know what kind of laws I may have broken and what the punishment can be. What should I do??

 

[outonbail]

Sorry, I have absolutely no idea what your going on about. Maybe it's because I'm tired, but I'm getting a headache trying to decipher what you posted.


Could you have someone translate the content of your post over to English?

 

[zerozero]

Readers digest version:

I worked for a company that gave big discounts to employees if you purchased things online through one of our vedors. The only catch is you are not allowed to sell it and it can only be for you. I bought about $5000 worth of product, and then had another employee buy about the same ammount, I fronted him the money for it and then went on to sell the product to another store for a profit of about $2000. Apparently other employees were doing the same thing, now there is an investigation because something got tracked back to an employee and everyone is under suspicion. I am fairly sure that the employee i used will be interviewed and will admit what happened. What should I do, what laws did i break, and what are the consequences? Thank you.

 

[outonbail]

Well, that's a little better and I've had sleep so, without having the privilege of all the details, it sounds to me as if this would be more of a civil matter than a criminal matter. If you were required to sign a contract promising not to sell the merchandise you purchased for one year, but did so anyway, you violated the conditions of the contract.

The party you contracted with can hold you responsible for their suffering of any loss of profits, customers etc. which was a direct result of your failure to follow through on your end of the contract.

They may also be able to collect punitive damages if they can prove that you were planning to defraud them all along and knowingly signed the contract with out any intentions of abiding by the terms you were agreeing to, by signing.

This is exactly what it sounds like you did.

Depending on what is spelled out in the contract, they may also be able to hold you responsible for all court costs and attorney fees related to the recovery of their losses.

So this can end up being some pretty serious stuff financially, if not criminally. if you are asked to be interviewed, be sure to have an attorney there to represent you.

Good Luck

 

[zerozero]

Thanks for the advice, would there be anything you would do right now as a pre-emptive measure, or is waiting the only thing I can do?

 

[stealth2]

I'd be saving up my money to pay legal fees.

 

[racer72]

Hahaha, my soon to be son in law was fired from Walmart for the exact same thing. Plus he has to pay back the difference in the price he paid and the actual selling price, about $1000 in his case.

 

[zerozero]

i wouldnt have any woes about paying what profit i made back to the company. that would sound fair to me. did your son-in-law have to go to court, or was this settled outside of court? and if so did this give him a criminal record? the reason i ask is because i want to be a cop, and im currently majoring in criminal justice. i know it sounds so bad, but this is the only thing bad (in terms of the law) that ive ever done, it just seemed like a quick buck where no one was really getting hurt so i didnt think it was that bad. sigh...