Crime & Safety
Woman Accused of Making $2,574 in Fraudulent Returns
Some of the returns were made at the Marshalls and TJ Maxx stores in Fairfield.
[Editor's note: Arrest information is supplied by the Fairfield Police Department. It does not indicate convictions.]
A Trumbull woman was arrested Friday in connection to a series of fraudulent returns made at Marshalls and TJ Maxx in Fairfield, police said.
Larisa Lein, 52, of Indian Ledge Drive, was charged with third-degree larceny -- a felony -- for allegedly making $2,574 worth of fraudulent returns at the Fairfield stores, police said.
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Police believe Lein is part of a larger group of people responsible for making 1,298 fraudulent returns -- totaling $126,000 -- in New York and Connecticut stores since September 2009, department spokesperson Sgt. Sue Lussier said.
Lein was recognized and identified by an employee at one of the stores in Fairfield after an investigation was launched in April 2011, Lussier said. Police believe Lein had three accomplices helping complete the fraudulent returns.
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For example, Lein allegedly purchased a pair of high-heeled shoes for $399 at a TJ Maxx in Mt. Kisco, N.Y., and then a conspirator returned the same pair of shoes to the Tunxis Hill Road TJ Maxx for $429, police said.
Lein's bond was set at $7,500 and she is scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 1.
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