http://www.kptv.com/news/19142810/detail.html Man Arrested With 9,946 Stolen Ink Sticks Ink Stolen From Employer Worth $400,000, Police BEAVERTON,
Ore. — A man accused of stealing about $400,000 worth of ink
accessories from his job at Xerox was released on his own recognizance
Friday morning.Ayad Al-Masawi, 42, a contract employee of Xerox was
arrested Thursday with nearly 10,000 ink sticks at his home on
Millennium Terrace in Aloha in connection with selling stolen
merchandise, deputies said.”There was a bunch of cop cars up there,
maybe five or six, and a bunch of detectives and they had it all taped
off,” neighbor Katherine Nissney said
Police said they found 9,946 Xerox Ink Sticks at Al-Masawi’s home. The ink’s estimated value is more than $275,000, police said. Investigators
said they think Al-Masawi, who is a naturalized United States citizen
originally from Iraq and works for Xerox, has been selling the Xerox
Ink Sticks for two years through eBay and may have sold more than
$125,000 worth.Detectives said some of the ink found in Al-Masawi’s
home was in packages ready to be mailed.Deputies said they think
Al-Masawi would steal the ink products a few at a time by hiding them
somewhere on his body when he left his job at Xerox.The investigation
began when Xerox became suspicious of an eBay user who was selling
large amounts of their ink online and alerted police, deputies said.”I
think it’s insane, I always wondered where he was making his money,”
Nissney said. “He always sat at home.”
People on his block said they really didn’t know their neighbor. “I
saw him a few times out working in his yard, I’d say hello and he’d
kind of just nod. He really wasn’t very friendly. He kind of kept to
himself,” Nissney said.Al-Musawi was also a local artist and had
released a book of his paintings that depicted his artistic oppression
in Iraq.
Xerox officials released a statement regarding the investigation. “Xerox
Corporation, at its Wilsonville location initiated an investigation
into the apparent theft of solid ink sticks. The Xerox Corporate
Security team cooperated with the Washington County Sheriff’s Office in
this investigation, which concluded today with the arrest of occasional
contract worker Ayad Al-Musawi.”