The Philadelphia News reports that Nestle USA has filed a civil suit against one of its top salesmen, charging that he used his access to promotional funds to support a gambling habit – to the tune of $6.3 million.
The salesman, Henry Machinski, allegedly stole money from the company because he was empowered to write checks on behalf of the company in amounts up to $20,000 apiece for the purpose of rewarding retailers for promotions. Machinski was a high level salesman handled A&P, among other accounts for Nestle.
Machinski is said to have stolen the money over four years and to have lost it playing craps
Also charged in the civil suit is Vincent Marchese, who owned an Allentown Food 4 Less store and is accused of having been complicit the theft.
The News reports that Machinski and Marchese allegedly opened a bank account in the name of "AP Food," and then Machinski wrote checks and submitted invoices to the company saying that the money had been paid to A&P. In all, Machinski is accused of writing about 386 bogus checks totaling $6,387,706.10 between Sept. 11, 2001, and May 31, 2005.
The salesman, Henry Machinski, allegedly stole money from the company because he was empowered to write checks on behalf of the company in amounts up to $20,000 apiece for the purpose of rewarding retailers for promotions. Machinski was a high level salesman handled A&P, among other accounts for Nestle.
Machinski is said to have stolen the money over four years and to have lost it playing craps
Also charged in the civil suit is Vincent Marchese, who owned an Allentown Food 4 Less store and is accused of having been complicit the theft.
The News reports that Machinski and Marchese allegedly opened a bank account in the name of "AP Food," and then Machinski wrote checks and submitted invoices to the company saying that the money had been paid to A&P. In all, Machinski is accused of writing about 386 bogus checks totaling $6,387,706.10 between Sept. 11, 2001, and May 31, 2005.
- KC's View:
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In what could be worse news for the alleged thief, two Atlantic City casinos reportedly have filed suit against him for passing bad checks to the tune of $150,000.
If we had to choose between irritating Nestle and getting on the bad side of an Atlantic City casino, we’d definitely risk annoying Nestle.
By the way, the irony is delicious that promotional money – the root of so much retail evil - could also be at the root of this kind of financial fraud.
