A warrant was issued Tuesday in Lewis County Superior Court for a woman accused of stealing thousands of dollars from a Chehalis furniture store after she failed to appear for a preliminary hearing in the case.
The Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office has filed one charge of first-degree theft against Misti Marie Moore, 45, of Olympia, after allegations surfaced that she stole thousands of dollars by manipulating customer receipts and purchase records while working at Furniture World in Chehalis.
She was scheduled to make her first appearance out of custody in Lewis County Superior Court Tuesday, but didn’t appear.
Lewis County Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher said his office sent Moore a summons, but the post office returned it.
Moore has six felony convictions from Virginia, where she was accused of embezzlement from a furniture store, according to court documents. She is reportedly on state Department of Corrections supervision in Olympia, despite prosecutors not being able to reach her.
“We don’t know where she’s at,” Meagher said.
Superior Court Judge Nelson Hunt issued a $5,000 bench warrant for her arrest on the theft charge.
In May, the Chehalis Police Department began investigating allegations of theft at the business by Moore, a manager at the store who, according to court documents, had recently quit with no explanation.
The store’s management began noticing discrepancies regarding customers receipts. In one instance, for example, a customer came to the store to organize repairs for furniture he purchased. While the store had no record of his purchase of a recliner and love seat, the customer had documentation proving he bought the items from the store, specifically from Moore, with $2,000 cash.
Store management provided investigators with a folder full of receipts and records detailing similar instances. In many situations, customers were encouraged to pay with cash and given receipts that reflected their payment. However, the store’s own records of the purchases were doctored, according to court documents.
In all, Furniture World staff found $20,000 in discrepancies in their books since January 2015, according to court documents.
At the time charges were filed against Moore, investigators identified three specific sales in which Moore is accused of stealing $5,880 from Furniture World. Court documents note that more fraudulent transactions are suspected to have occurred.
