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Former Saks jewelry saleswoman gets jail time

July 08, 2009

New York--The former Saks Fifth Avenue saleswoman accused of running a scam in the jewelry department was sentenced to 90 days in jail on Monday, The Associated Press reports.

According to the AP, 52-year-old Cecille Villacorta was convicted in March of 146 felonies, including grand larceny and falsifying business records.

Prosecutors said the former Saks saleswoman ran a scheme in the jewelry department in which she gave customers refunds on items they never bought and gave unauthorized discounts on expensive items.

The idea behind the scam, according to prosecutors, was to keep customers happy and coming back to her.

The AP reports the scam allowed Villacorta to ring up sales of $27 million and collect hundreds of thousands of dollars in fraudulent commissions and bonuses between 2000 and her firing in 2006.

In addition to her 90-day stint in jail, Villacorta also was ordered to do 100 hours of community service and fined $96,000 for stealing from Saks, which claims it lost $1.4 million because of the scheme.

The AP reports that Villacorta wept loudly in court before being sentenced on Monday, but both the assistant district attorney and a representative from Saks asked for a stiffer sentence, saying that Villacorta had shown no remorse for her crimes.

The judge said that 90 days was the appropriate amount of jail time for Villacorta, being that this was her first offense and that she had a previously unblemished employment record.

Her attorney claims that Villacorta, an immigrant from the Philippines who faces deportation due to her felony convictions, was just doing what a Saks supervisor taught her to do, and that she was fired and the police were called when she started making too much money.

According to the AP, she earned $400,000 in her final year on the job.

The attorney plans to immediately appeal the conviction, and Villacorta has filed a civil lawsuit against Saks, claiming malicious prosecution.
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