A Microsoft Store employee has been accused of stealing and reselling thousands of dollars worth of software. On April 26, 2011, 31-year-old Ulugbek Shodmonov was charged first-degree theft for shoplifting software from Microsoft's Redmond store. Prosecutors state he then resold it online before Microsoft security discovered what he was up to, according to charging documents cited by Seattle PI.
Redmond Police first received a report of the alleged thefts in December 2010. Microsoft said Shodmonov spent nearly all of his yearly allowance at the Redmond campus company store by August 2010. Of course, the point of the company store is to give employees access to Microsoft products at deep discounts (note: I've bought products there before – software is particularly cheap), but they are only allowed to spend a specified amount of their money.
Company investigators identified Shodmonov's eBay account and found that he auctioned off 17 copies of Microsoft software and 18 Xbox 360 games. Shodmonov's purchase history at the company store confirms he bought one copy of Windows 7 Professional, but surveillance of the store showed Shodmonov carrying software out of a closed area at least 22 times. During six visits to the store in October 2010, Shodmonov could be seen on the video taking items out of the locked software room, accessible by employees using their company key cards.
According to the report, a total of $9,900 worth of software was stolen on the days in question, though it is not clear if Shodmonov is suspected of being responsible for the total amount of the thefts. We're not quite sure how he thought he would get away with it.
