A 34-year-old employee at Publix on Bichara Boulevard in The Villages is free on $2,000 bond after allegedly making fraudulent returns at the store.
Brandy Marie Wise of Leesburg is facing a charge of scheming to defraud following her arrest this past week by Lady Lake police.
During an interview with police, Wise admitted that she had made fraudulent returns and then used the money to buy lottery tickets. She said she began doing so in August and would make about $75 in fraudulent returns three times a week to buy lottery tickets.
She told a police officer she is “addicted” to lottery tickets and has been trying to move and thought if she could get a winning lottery ticket, she could afford to move.
A Publix loss prevention specialist told the police officer that he could document $626.30 in fraudulent returns, but suspected that the total that Wise had taken was closer to $6,000.
