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Office Worker Accused Of Stealing $376,000 Worth Of Toner From Law Firm
By
John Del Signore
Published Jan 16, 2013
Modified Jan 16, 2013
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By
John Del Signore
Published Jan 16, 2013
Modified Jan 16, 2013
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A guy who worked in the "duplicating department" at the law firm of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson has been charged with Grand Larceny for allegedly pilfering an estimated $376,000 worth of copy machine toner and selling it on the black market. According to the Manhattan DA's office, back in the fall of 2010, Adrian Rodriguez, 39, began ordering large amounts of unneeded copy toner for the company. Prosecutors say he would then stash the toner until his connection came to the offices to take it away in a van.
Rodriguez allegedly sold black ink toner for $10 per box, and color ink toner for $15 per box—a steep discount considering the market value of the toner can range in price from $80 to $260. According to a copy of the indictment obtained by the Times:
Mr. Rodriguez’s scheme continued for about two years until an undercover sting operation in December 2012, prosecutors said. Law enforcement officials, working with the firm, marked a shipment of toner with invisible ink and then traced it as it made its way to the company and then out the back door. Mr. Rodriguez acknowledged the scheme when he was arrested, according to court documents.
“It may surprise many New Yorkers to learn that there is a black market for office supplies,” said District Attorney Cy Vance. “This defendant didn’t just take a box of Post-it Notes out of the office supply closet - he is charged with making an illegal business out stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars of worth copy machine toner." Of course, this sort of epic office pilfering isn't without precedent. You'll recall that in 2011, one Marque Gumbs, a former employee at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, was convicted of stealing more than $1.5 million worth of printing toner cartridges from the hospital.
Tagged
office theft
shrinkage
Toner
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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