Fresh Thyme Manager in Michigan Charged With Stealing $750K

Michigan Attorney General alleges that employee embezzled from self-checkout system

2/20/2024

Internal and external theft tied to self-checkout kiosks is proving to be a loss driver for retailers.

The manager of a Fresh Thyme Market location Troy, Mich., is accused of embezzling at least $750,000 from the store between July 2022 and November 2023. On Feb. 16, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced a series of charges against former manager Trevor Beaver, contending that he stole funds from self-checkout kiosks.

Last fall, a new audit program for the self-checkout system at Fresh Thyme flagged potential problems at the Troy store. The grocer’s accountants realized a sizable amount of money was missing and alerted authorities. Michigan’s FORCE Team and the state’s organized retail crime unit tracked the issue back to Beaver, who had scheduled himself as the only manager tasked with depositing cash. He confessed to the embezzlement during questioning by management and law enforcement officials.

“Retail theft doesn’t just impact Michigan businesses, but it hurts consumers when the retailer must raise prices to compensate for lost revenue,” Nessel said. “I am grateful for the collaborative work by the FORCE Team, the Michigan State Police, and Fresh Thyme to bring this criminal’s conduct to light. As long as this pervasive issue exists, my department’s Organized Retail Crime Unit will continue to hold bad actors accountable.”

If convicted, Beaver faces a maximum imprisonment of 20 years to life in prison.

Nessel, meanwhile, issued cautionary words for other retailers. “Businesses of all sizes should be enforcing even the most basic mechanisms for loss prevention. All stores that lack similar protections should heed this warning to protect themselves from falling victim next,” she said.

Theft – by employees and customers – continues to be a headache for grocers. The 2023 Retail Security Survey from the National Retail Federation and Loss Prevention Research Council found that both internal and external theft accounts for 65% of retailers’ shrink.

With 71 stores in 10 states throughout the Midwest, Downers Grove, Ill.-based Fresh Thyme Market is No. 87 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2023 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.