POLK COUNTY, Fla. — The Polk County Sheriff's Office says three people are behind bars after they made defrauding Lowe's Home Improvement stores across Florida a family affair.
Robert Bailey, 50, his son, Christopher Bailey, 28, and daughter-in-law, Susan Highlander Bailey, 51 are accused of costing 11 of the company's Florida stores $28,801.79 in losses.
The trio made 65 fraudulent transactions where they removed items from the store shelves before making "immediate returns" at the customer service counter for store credit, according to a sheriff's office press release.
Investigators say the store credit would then be used to purchase items and, on occasion, make pawn transactions within hours of the crimes.
“These three weren’t difficult to track down. They used their Florida driver’s licenses during the transactions, and Robert and Christopher were in jail for other crimes when we charged them," Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said. "Their scheme, and others like it, not only cost Lowe’s money but also consumers, due to prices being driven up by the losses.”
The fraud was reported to have occurred between July 2020 and September 2020, according to the press release.
Each member of the trio faces several theft and fraud-related charges in relation to the investigation.
In addition to Polk County, the sheriff's office says the trio made similar transactions at stores in Citrus, Hernando, Hillsborough, Lake, Marion, Orange, Osceola, Pasco, Pinellas, and Sumter Counties.
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