"Financial Loss" At Wenatchee Albertsons Under Investigation As Potential Scam
Wenatchee Police Department spokesperson said they are interviewing an individual regarding the matter and will put out a press release soon
Albertsons in Wenatchee suffered a “financial loss” last night and the Wenatchee Police Department is currently investigating the matter, WPD Captain Edgar Reinfeld said Wednesday afternoon.
“I can’t say robbed, but there was a financial loss and it’s under investigation,” he said. “But there is no threat to public safety because of this incident.”
He said his agency was interviewing an individual about the matter as we spoke, and they would be putting a press release out about the incident soon. He said he could not comment on the matter further at this time.
The general manager at the Wenatchee Albertsons could not comment, but took my number and said Sara Osborn from Albertsons corporate communications would contact me. Once I hear from her I will update this piece.
I learned about this incident from a tipster who said Albertsons in Wenatchee was “robbed of a substantial amount of cash last night.”
The tipster alleged that it was “an inside job” and “cash was hand delivered by overnight manager to undisclosed individual at McDonalds.”
They added that the employee was “duped” into handing over the cash and it was a “system hack” that was the “initial process of robbery.”
So I looked into it and this is what I know so far. This is a developing story and I will update this article as I learn more.
Feb. 28 Update
I spoke with Cap. Reinfeld yesterday and he said the investigation is still ongoing and they are looking for suspects. He said while he can’t give out info that might compromise the investigation by tipping off suspects, he can confirm this crime is more in the scam category than the straight-up theft category.
He said it has been years since WPD has seen a crime like this the agency will be putting a press release about the incident because it is a teachable moment for businesses in the area.
“We want to go through and say ‘hey don’t do that,’” he said.
Reinfeld said he expects WPD to release more information about this case in the next few days.
Interesting.