Connecticut police arrested a man after he stole $200,000 from a local restaurant chain in an elaborate gift card scheme.
Calvin Ortique, 34, was arrested on Wednesday on charges related to gift and loyalty card larceny from the Hartford Restaurant Group’s Wood-n-Tap restaurants.
Ortique, who worked for the Connecticut Department of Transpiration (DOT), began his elaborate scheme during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Hartford Restaurant Group, which owns and operates 10 Wood-n-Tap restaurants, said the amount Ortique is suspected of stealing is around $200,000 worth of gift card balances and loyalty rewards and around $20,000 was redeemed at up to seven Connecticut locations from May 2020 until January 2023.
Calvin Ortique was arrested as part of a Wood-n-Tap gift scam, according to Newington police (Newington Police Department)
Phil Barnett, the co-founder of Hartford Restaurant Group, said in a press release that the scheme affected gift cards and loyalty cards, which reward frequent guests with bonus dollars and had balances ranging from $30 up to $700.
It was not until 2021 that the restaurant employees began connecting the dots that eventually led to the arrest of Ortique.
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Jennifer Lamantini, the Director of Guest Services at Wood-n-Tap, told Fox News Digital that they first started hearing about the missing balances in the summer of 2021.
“People starting calling me and saying that they had no money on their gift card and loyalty card balances,” Lamantini said. “I started getting calls that I’ve never gotten in my 14-years with the company.”
Loyal customer told Lamantini that they never went to that location where the gift card was allegedly spent.
“Customers were saying that their gift card was in their purse and that they have never used it,” Lamantini recalled
Newington police said they arrested 34-year-old Calvin Ortique of Bloomfield, in connection with a gift…
