A Bloomington T.J. Maxx employee was arrested Wednesday after internal investigators found she helped steal $6,616.47 worth of merchandise.
Around 1 p.m. Wednesday, police said they went to the store at 160 N. Gates Drive and arrested Adear Azzam, 21, charging her with theft. Officers are still looking for Azzam’s friends who were involved.
Azzam invited her friends into the T.J. Maxx store multiple times throughout July 2018 and helped them steal merchandise by removing security tags and acting as if they paid, police said. She would then have the friends come back in and return the items in exchange for gift cards, an investigator told police.
“This is an extremely common internal theft strategy,” Capt. Steve Kellams said.
A T.J. Maxx internal investigation was launched after employees became suspicious of Azzam, but was put on delay after she went on maternity leave. Once she returned to work, the investigation was finished and police were contacted.
