Two North Bay men charged in 21 incidents of theft, fraud

An empty shopping cart sat in a parking lot in this undated stock image. (Paul Seling/Pexels.com)

Two men are accused of stealing more than $25,000 in merchandise from a North Bay store and returning nearly $6,000 worth of stolen items for refunds over four months last year.

Police started the investigation in March after being contacted by the store’s head office.

The pair allegedly used two different schemes on 21 separate occasions at the store between June 17 and Oct. 15, 2024, North Bay Police Service said in a news release Wednesday.

Distraction technique

In the first scheme, one man, 40, would put several items in a shopping cart.

“The (69-year-old) co-accused would take the cart and wait, while the accused would approach the cashier and make a small purchase and distract the store associates,” police said.

“The co-accused would then walk out of the store with the selected unpaid items.”

Returning stolen goods

The second scam involved returning stolen goods.

The younger suspect would make purchases at the store with his accomplice’s credit card and then return to the store and take the same items on the receipt before leaving again without paying for the second set of goods.

Days later, the older suspect would return the stolen items for a credit.

The younger man was on a release order for similar accusations involving a different store.

He was held for a bail hearing while the older man was released.

Both men have the same last name, but police did not say if they are related.

The 40-year-old is facing five criminal charges, including theft over $5,000 and two counts each of theft and fraud under $5,000.

Meanwhile, the 69-year-old is charged with one count each of the same charges.