Corporate officials of Eddie Merlot’s, whose manager was charged July 2 with stealing customers’ identities, have pledged to “rectify the issue with any affected patron.”
In a prepared statement issued last week, Bruce Kraus, director of operations for Eddie Merlot’s restaurants, said the chain is going “above and beyond” to resolve the matter with any customers who were affected by the alleged 7-month-long scam in Lincolnshire.
“Rest assured we will be going above and beyond to rectify the issue with any affected patron,” Kraus said in the statement. He declined to answer any questions about the statement.
Officials at Eddie Merlot’s in Lincolnshire referred all questions to Kraus.
On July 2, Alexander Pera, 26, of Chicago was arrested and charged with aggravated identity theft, identity theft and money laundering, police said.
Pera, who had been manager of the restaurant since it opened in October 2012, stole more than $50,000 by using the identities of customers and former employees, police said.
He used false names to spend much of the money on 15 trips to Walt Disney World during a five-month period and to sail twice on Disney Cruise Line, police said.
After his arrest, Pera was fired from his position at the Lincolnshire restaurant, said Kraus, whose statement suggested the chain has not encountered similar incidents at its other restaurants.
“We are very sad to learn of this isolated incident at this one location,” he said. “The incident involved only one employee who is no longer employed by us.”
Local and corporate officials of Eddie Merlot’s are cooperating with police, police and Kraus said. Both urged any customers who may have been affected by the alleged scam to contact police.
“We will continue to cooperate with authorities and remain vigilant,” Kraus said. “We encourage anyone who believes they were victimized to contact the Lincolnshire police and to notify the credit card companies involved.”
Investigator Adam Hyde advised potential victims to call him at 847-913-2349.
Police are investigating the scam back to December 2012, Hyde said. Investigators could not be reached for comment to indicate whether any additional victims have come forward since Pera was arrested in early July.
Lincolnshire police were alerted to the alleged scam in May by Orange County, Fla., officials, Hyde said. Pera provided false information to the Disney Company and airlines when making travel plans, Hyde said.
Senior Analist Nikolai Fedotov, InfoWatch comments:
«This incident supports the fact, that Americans have learned to count money and do it very well. It is better to have a scandal with an employee, who has misused personal data once rather than confuse million customers, requiring their passports.
The balance struck between convenience and risk in this restaurants chain was set up correctly. It would be a pity if this balance is lost».
