Fudge rounds, oatmeal creme pies or zebra cakes, we all have our favorite Little Debbie snack.
A delivery driver played to the snacks’ popularity, devising a fraud scheme to stiff grocery stores and pocket the profits.
According to local media reports, James Powell, of Valley Grove, W. Va., worked as an independent distributor for Stewart Snacks LLC. Powell allegedly created false invoices for deliveries of Little Debbie products to several retail stores, but did not complete those deliveries.
Law enforcement investigators allege that employee signatures were forged to confirm the products were received, which allowed the invoices to be processed through the billing system.
This fraud scheme, which Powell is alleged to have orchestrated for up to one year, resulted in Stewart Snacks having to reimburse retailers, including Shop’n Save, Giant Eagle and Walmart locations in Washington County, Pa.
Powell received commission payments for the deliveries that were never made, according to law enforcement.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office in Ohio initially received a report from Stewart Snacks about fraudulent records and missing products from previous deliveries in Washington County.
After the most recent reports, the case was referred to authorities in Washington County.
Powell was arrested in West Virginia and reportedly charged with three felony counts of forgery, two felony counts of theft by deception, two felony counts of theft by unlawful taking, one felony count of deceptive or fraudulent business practices, three misdemeanor counts of tampering with records or identification, one misdemeanor count of theft by deception, one misdemeanor count of theft by unlawful taking and two misdemeanor counts of deceptive or fraudulent business practices.
Over $17,000 in restitution is being sought in this case.
That’s a whole lot of nutty bars. LL
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