BURBANK : Sears Worker Held in Embezzlement

An employee of a Sears store in Burbank has been arrested on suspicion of embezzling $17,000 by using a cash register to pay off his credit-card debts over the past two years, police said Wednesday.

Police believe Afshin (Jeff) Masjedi, 28, of Pasadena credited his Sears, Roebuck & Co. and Discover accounts while he worked in the store’s hardware and appliance departments and no one was looking.

“If he works in a department, it’s real easy to take something off the shelf, walk over to the cash register and credit the [price of the] item to his own account,” said Burbank Police Detective John Dilibert.

Masjedi will be charged today with one count each of burglary, grand theft and embezzlement, Dilibert said. He was in custody Wednesday at Men’s Central Jail in lieu of $15,000 bail.

An employee of the Sears store at the Media City Center mall since 1992, Masjedi reportedly used his access to cash registers to pay off debts he had on clothes, jewelry and hardware.

A store manager declined to discuss Masjedi’s arrest Tuesday or his job status. Police said Masjedi is under employment review by Sears.