Kroger employee accused of stealing $1M from store to buy cars, clothes and guns

Tre Brown, an employee in one of the supermarket chain's Atlanta stores is being charged with felony theft

Jan 22, 2021

A teenager is looking at felony charges after he stole almost a million dollars from a Kroger grocery store in Atlanta.

Tre Brown, 19, managed the theft by obtaining alleged refunds on credit cards. He committed the crimes over a two-week span while a compliance officer was away. He was taken into custody on Jan. 14 and charged with one felony count by theft, per the AJC.

Brown worked at the store’s fuel center and he used the funds to buy clothes, guns and cars. He also purchased a Chevrolet Camaro but totaled it.

Tre Brown Kroger — Tre Brown (Gwinnett county PD, CNN)

The scammer apparently got a hold of more than 40 refunds on items that did not exist. The returns ranged from $75 to over $87,000. He then placed the proceeds on credit cards.

A large portion of the funds were returned but it’s unclear what that exact number is.

Investigators caught wind of the scam after being contacted by corporate employees from Kroger who noticed the fraudulent transactions.

Brown was released from the Gwinnett County Jail the same day he was arrested on $11,200K bond.

A Kroger spokeswoman thanked Gwinnett County Police Department for their help on the case.

This story comes days after a car thief berated a mother for leaving her toddler in the car. As previously reported by theGrio, a car thief who found a toddler in the backseat of a stolen vehicle drove back and chastised the mother for leaving the child unattended before taking off again, police in Oregon said.

The woman went into a grocery store about 15 feet (5 yards) from the car Saturday, leaving her 4-year-old child inside with the engine running and the vehicle unlocked, said Beaverton police spokesman Officer Matt Henderson.

A store employee told authorities the woman was in the market for a few minutes before someone began driving away with the SUV.

Once the thief realized the toddler was in the backseat, he drove back, berated the woman for leaving her child unattended, told the woman to take the child and drove away in the stolen vehicle.

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