YAKIMA, Wash. – Three cashiers at Fiesta Foods in Yakima stand accused of embezzling more than $70,000 from the store over the past year. The women, aged 37, 28 and 26, made their first court appearance on Monday Two of the women are facing first-degree theft charges, and the third is facing second-degree theft charges as the alleged amount is less than $5,000.
According to probable cause affidavits by the Yakima Police Department, the three women allegedly used coupon codes to pocket the money. They reportedly entered coupon codes manually into the register to skim cash. An example given was a transaction involving 100 five-dollar coupons, resulting in $500 cash taken.
The alleged embezzlement took place from January 2025 to the end of January this year. The affidavits claim that when customers used a coupon, the women would retain it and later enter it into the system to manipulate the till. By doing so, the tills appeared balanced at the end of each day since the fraudulent coupons were deducted from the total.
Yakima Police stated that the women admitted to using the embezzled money for various personal expenses, including rent, utility payments and diapers. One of the accused mentioned sending money to a relative in Mexico for medical expenses.
Fiesta Foods declined to comment on the matter, citing an ongoing investigation.
The three women are scheduled for an arraignment in court on Tuesday, February 10.
