BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — A Target employee accused of stealing $40,000 from the store safe said she was the victim of a scammer, investigators said.
Police said Becky Fernandez got a call Dec. 27 at the store from a man telling her she needed to deliver a package and $40,000 to him, KGET reported.
She said she took the money and met a man who was in a grey van in a parking lot near a Taco Bell. When she returned to work she realized she might have made a mistake.
Fernandez, a team leader, did not check with management before taking the money, store officials said.
“It is not normal practice for any employee to remove currency from the safe to make a cash drop,” officials said.
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Police reviewed Fernandez’s phone and noted a text message from the man indicating she should take an additional $10,000 to split between her and “the lawyer.” She took investigators to where she gave the man the money. Officers noted there are no surveillance cameras in the area.
Fernandez agreed to talk to investigators at the police station but once they got there she asked for her attorney. She was then arrested and charged.
She has pleaded not guilty to felony embezzlement. She is out on bail. Her next court hearing is in March.
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