Man posed as Safeway grocery store employee to steal more than $700,000 worth of crab
A Florida man was arrested after allegedly impersonating a Safeway employee to steal more than $700,000 worth of crab.
According to federal prosecutors, David Subil fraudulently ordered more than $728,000 of crab from a wholesaler while pretending to be multiple employees of a Safeway grocery store in Stanwood, Wash., about 50 miles north of Seattle.
Subil is accused is using multiple fake email accounts and fake purchase orders to convince the owner of San Francisco-based Arctic Foods to make two shipments of crab — one for $432,000 and another $296,388.
The first shipment contained 600 cases of king crab. The second shipment had 600 cases of king crab and 40 cases of snow crab. As part of the scheme, Subil had the crab shipped to a storage facility in Stanwood where he picked it up in a Ryder rental truck.
“This was not a one-time thing. This was an ongoing conspiracy that involves multi-states and multiple jurisdictions and a lot of money,” said Robert Hammer, the special agent in charge of overseeing Homeland Security investigations operations in the Pacific Northwest.
The owner of Arctic Foods figured out the scam when he tried to get in touch with Subil to tell him he’d overcharged for the second order. After he was unsuccessful, he contacted the store and learned Subil did not work there.
Deputies from the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office tracked a third shipment and arrested the driver, believed to be Subil’s co-conspirator, outside Tacoma on suspicion of forgery and possessing a fraudulent bill.
Investigators later learned a Florida company was selling crab from Arctic Foods that matched lot numbers from Subil’s first order. That company’s owner said he paid a company registered to Subil $144,750 for the seafood.
Investigators swapped out the contents of a fourth shipment that they believe Subil dumped after discovering it did not contain crab. He was arrested shortly thereafter in Miami after booking a one-way ticket to Colombia, likely “in order to flee the country from potential prosecution,” charging documents say.
Subil faces charges of conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property.
