A lot has been going on at GameStop with the news that 8 of their employees (current and former) from the Memphis, Tennessee area were busted for illegal activity, involving the purchase and sale of stolen video games.
The company has since then suspended the cash-for-trade program in Shelby County and DeSoto County until February 2009. This program enabled employees to buy and sell used games for low prices, with benefits for both the company and game owner. The Area Law Enforcement and Retailers Team (ALERT) were able to bust these employees through undercover sting operations, resulting in all 8 of them being charged, tried and found guilty. The guilty were given 1 year diversion sentences, rather than being sent directly to jail, because it was the first time they were caught by the law engaging in criminal activities. They will be serving community service within this one year period. They are quite lucky because the charges may be wiped of their records after some time.
GameStop’s Regional Vice President of Stores, Rory Rhoads had a lot to say about the situation. He said that GameStop takes situations like this very seriously and praised the ALERT group for their undercover work.
“GameStop takes this situation quite seriously. We are pleased to partner with the ALERT Unit and have taken very deliberate steps to improve our operations. Specifically, we have suspended our cash-for-trade transactions in Shelby County and DeSoto County, Mississippi until February 2009.”
Undercover operations were conducted between April and June, with stolen material totaling just under $500.00. These employees should be grateful for their lenient sentence, and I am sure they would never think of pulling such an illegal stunt again. Was it worth the trouble just for $500 worth of games, I highly doubt it.
via: commercialappeal
