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An employee at Milwaukee Tool in Wisconsin is
accused of stealing more than $1 million in
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tools from his employer.
According to local reports,
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investigators say the employee had the tools
shipped directly to his home,
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but never paid for them.
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Milwaukee Tool, the Brookfield-based company,
is known for having a generous program for
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employees to buy deeply discounted tools.
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It uncovered the plot earlier this year.
According to a search warrant,
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the employee works at the company’s new $30
million corporate office that it announced back
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in May 2021.
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The worker allegedly created and deleted some
115 orders from March
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2024 to March 2025.
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Of those orders, 109, all but 6,
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were delivered and they were valued at
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$1,863,263.85.
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The staffer flew under the radar for a year,
but then he got greedy and sent about
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9,000 pounds of tools to his nearby apartment,
and Milwaukee Tool wasn’t the one to flag
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the shipment.
It was the shipping company that found the
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sizable shipment peculiar.
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And notified the company.
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The alert triggered an investigation that
remains ongoing.
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While the worker hasn’t been charged yet, some
speculate that the scheme could involve area
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businesses that help the employee move the
tools.
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The alleged thief has been fired.
The company says for abuse of our employee
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purchase program, which reportedly offers
workers discounted tools that range from
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30% to 50% off of retail prices.
The company says it has zero tolerance for any
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kind of theft.
The plot is a dark spot for a toolmaker that
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celebrated its 100th anniversary last year and
opened its largest manufacturing facility in
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the United States last October.
The $60 million, 500,000 square foot facility
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will employ more than 800 people in Mississippi.
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Let’s hope none of them are shipping 4.5 tons
of tools to their homes.
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I’m David Manti.
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This is Manufacturing Now.