A Bloomington man was arrested Friday after he allegedly attempted to steal nearly $25,000 from appliance store hhgregg last summer in a months-long scam.
Mohammed A. Romano, 20, is charged with felonies for theft and check deception.
The manager of the store at 260 N. Gates Drive called police Thursday in reference to a series of checks bouncing, Bloomington Police Department Lt. Jeff Canada said. Romano had used the checks, which totaled $24,800, as payment in the store between May and August of 2016.
The store’s asset protection division told police they believed Romano committed the fraud by going to the store, ordering items to be delivered to his apartment, paying with checks connected to a closed account and canceling the order before delivery. When the order was canceled, the store would send Romano a refund check.
Eventually the store noticed the scam and was able to stop an estimated $16,000 worth of refund checks from going to Romano, Canada said. The store’s total loss came to $8,600.
The store told police it believes Romano has used the same scam at stores in Naperville, Illinois, and Joliet, Illinois.
Police confirmed the checks Romano used were connected to a closed account. They also discovered he’d ordered another delivery from an hhgregg in a different city. On Friday morning detectives went to Romano’s address on the 2000 block of North Walnut Street with the truck making the delivery.
When the truck arrived, Romano stepped outside his apartment. When he did, the detectives identified themselves and detained him. He was arrested and taken to the Monroe County Correctional Center.
Jack Evans
