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Last year, 51-year-old Cecille Villacorta, an ex-Saks employee, went on trial for charges that, through a unique con, she stole over $1 million from the Manhattan flagship store. She faced up to 7 years in prison for grand larceny, and now the court has finally handed down her sentence: 90 days behind bars, five years’ probation and a $96,000 fine. Though Villacorta reportedly left the courtroom happy, the conviction is being appealed—if it's upheld, she also faces deportation to her native Philippines.
Villacorta did sell $27 million worth of jewelry at Saks between 2000 and 2006, but the prosecution claimed that she could do so by faking returns and offering the "refund" credit to customers to build good will—and made commission off the fake purchases. The NY Times reports on the odd scenario in the courtroom where the high-end retailer was put in a victim's shoes (or Jimmy Choos, if you will). Saks addressed the judge saying, "When employees steal from companies, they are not just violating the trust of their employer and damaging the reputation of the company that employs them; they are picking the pockets of all Americans."
However, since her scheme benefited not only herself, but her many customers (she would refund them when no merchandise was returned), her lawyer argued that she brought and kept business at Saks to the tune of her 3,000 loyal customers—"her giveaways were but a fraction of what she brought in for the company." The modern day Robin Hood was stealing from the rich, giving to the rich and becoming rich herself, and she even "submitted a letter from a Jesuit priest, which discussed what she had done for charity."
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Cecille Villacorta's appeal was immediately granted and her sentence stayed by the NY state Appellate Court. Why weren't Saks' former executives, Watros (now CFO of Lord & Taylor?!) & Brian Martin (ex-legal counsel & brother of Saks' ex-Chairman) indicted for their involvement in the "vendor markdown scandal" wherein Saks PLED GUILTY to an elaborate scheme to "steal" from their vendors in the HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS over a ten year period? Who's "stealing from the pockets of all Americans"? Guess who is representing Villacorta in a multi-layered civil suit against Saks, which includes malicious prosecution? None other than Phillips Nizer, the legal titan responsible for putting Saks to its knees by having Saks plead guilty and pay appx $44 million in finest to one vendor! In an odd twist, it was Donald Kreindler, Senior Partner of Philips Nizer, who accused Saks of stealing from the "American consumer"; because Saks' scheme of illegal chargebacks caused vendors to increase their costs which were then passed on to the "American consumer". It seems that Saks is "stealing" the message of the very law firm that successfully caught them in the act?! It seems like we can only guess who the real theives are here? It also seems that the New York DA's office are cozy with Saks by going after a Philippine resident who obviously worked hard & who in their own words had "3,000 customers" and sold $27.5 million? So did Saks' management give back their commissions from Villacorta's $27.5 million in sales??? Let's hope that the Appellate Court shed justice here...
charity? The Human Fund?
"Money for people."