A former Chick-fil-A employee in Texas is accused of pulling off a bizarre fraud scheme involving mac and cheese that allegedly drained more than $80,000 from one restaurant over hundreds of transactions.
Police in Grapevine, Texas, launched an investigation after a Chick-fil-A owner discovered what authorities described as hundreds of suspicious refunds being processed through the restaurant’s system.
According to investigators, the refunds eventually led detectives to former employee Keyshun Jones, who had reportedly been terminated from the restaurant about a month earlier.
Despite no longer working there, detectives allegedly observed Jones repeatedly going behind the counter and accessing the restaurant’s computer system without permission.
Police say Jones carried out the scheme by processing fraudulent purchases for trays of mac and cheese before immediately refunding the money onto his own personal credit card.
Investigators claim he repeated the scam approximately 800 times.
By the end of the alleged operation, authorities say the total stolen had climbed to more than $80,000.
The unusual fraud scheme reportedly continued until the restaurant owner noticed the growing number of questionable refunds and alerted Grapevine Police.
After the investigation intensified, authorities say Jones repeatedly evaded attempts to arrest him.
Officials eventually tracked him down with assistance from the Texas Attorney General’s Fugitive Task Force and the Fort Worth Police Department, who successfully detained him after multiple alleged attempts to avoid capture.
Jones now faces several charges, including property theft, money laundering, and evading arrest.
The case has stunned many online not only because of the amount allegedly stolen, but also because of the strangely simple method investigators say was used to siphon tens of thousands of dollars through repeated food refunds.
Authorities have not yet released additional details about how long the scheme allegedly operated before it was discovered.
