LANSING (WWJ) -- A Lansing Police Officer has been arraigned on fraud charges for concocting what authorities say was a “price switching” scheme involving sports cards.
Officer Gregory Tracy was arraigned Thursday on one count of Retail Fraud First Degree and one count of Organized Retail Fraud, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced Friday.
According to investigators, Tracy is accused of defrauding the Meijer Corporation out of over $10,000 from January 9 through April of this year.
It's alleged, the AG sad, that Tracy would switch the price on boxes of sports cards for lesser valued items, and then try to sell the higher valued cards to others.
Tracy's alleged crimes were uncovered last month, Nessel's office said, when detectives with the Michigan State Police Fraud Investigation Unit began investigating a series of retail fraud allegations. MSP then referred the matter to the Department of Attorney General’s Retail Fraud Unit after discovering evidence of over 65 separate incidents across Eaton, Ingham, Clinton, Ionia, Genesee and Shiawassee counties.
"Instances of organized retail fraud cost Michigan-owned businesses and consumers alike,” said Nessel, in a statement. “I appreciate the investigative work of both Meijer corporation and the Michigan State Police on this matter. My department began the Organized Retail Crime Unit in 2022 to crack down on this pervasive issue and will continue to hold bad actors accountable.”
Tracy appeared in 54-B District Court in Ingham County on Thursday.
If convicted, he faces up to 5 years in prison for each charge, plus thousands of dollars in fines.
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