FARMINGTON — Four men accused of being part of a scheme that resulted in the theft of more than $100,000 from Gould’s Service Station on Route 2 in Wilton were indicted Thursday.

Zachary M. Armstrong, 19, Scott J. Lavoie, 54, and Preston R. Riley, 18, all of Wilton, and Kevin J. Farrington, 19, of Jay were each indicted on a charge of theft by unauthorized taking or transfer. The theft occurred between Sept. 4, 2018, and Jan. 1, 2019, according to the Franklin County grand jury report.

A 17-year-old Farmington boy was arrested on the same charge while a 16-year-old from Jay, who is now 17, was issued a summons on a lower class theft charge, both in August, Wilton Police officer Ethan Kyes previously said.

When customers at Gould’s station bought propane gas with cash, the former employees would keep the cash, swipe fraudulent Mobil Exxon Rewards Plus program points cards to get points, which they redeemed for cash, according to Kyes’ affidavit filed in a Farmington court.

Station owner and manager Paul “Danny” Gould reported to police March 4 that Exxon Mobil had contacted him for payment on over $100,000 in fraudulently redeemed Exxon Mobil Rewards Plus points attributed to his store, according to the affidavit.

Gould told Kyes he found four receipts on his computer system that he believed were involved in the fraud, according to the affidavit. Three receipts dated Dec. 24, 2018, were connected to one rewards account, which combined, indicated 409 gallons of propane gas sold for a total of 6 cents. The fourth receipt connected to a second account dated Dec. 31 showed 333 gallons sold for a total of 4 cents.

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Kyes traced internet IP addresses that were used to set up some of the rewards plus accounts connected to fraud at Gould’s station.

At the time, Gould told Kyes, propane sold for $2.759 a gallon.

A representative of a petroleum products company told Kyes that Gould’s station was showing a larger sale of product to acquire points in the rewards program than his largest gas station in New York.

A conviction for theft is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $20,000. A conviction on the lower class theft charge is punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000.


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