Hundreds fired from Southwest Side Target facility over alleged fraud, some say they were not aware of scheme

CHICAGO (WGN) — Hundreds of employees at a Southwest Side Target distribution facility have been fired in what Block Club Chicago first reported as an alleged fraud scheme.

But some of the fired employees now tell WGN-TV

they had no idea they were part of a large fraud operation. Rather, they thought they were just taking advantage of a benefit that could get them some fast cash, which they would then pay back over time.

Hundreds of employees at the Target Flow Center, located at 3501 South Pulaski Road in the Little Village neighborhood, were fired earlier this month.

WGN-TV has learned the fraudulent allegations stem from Target’s Healthcare Flexible Spending Account Program. The program gives employees $3,000 to spend on medical costs and pay it back with deductions from each paycheck.

The company isn’t confirming how many people were involved, but it said in a statement:

“Following an internal investigation, we have terminated team members found to be in violation of our company’s code of ethics.”

It’s not clear whether those involved could also face criminal charges. The scheme cost the company about $1.3 million, according to Block Club Chicago.

‘Not aware of it’

But after the Block Club Chicago story went to print and WGN aired a story Tuesday night, a handful of fired Target employees called and emailed WGN, saying they had no idea they were taking place in a massive fraud operation.

“If that’s happening, I’m not aware of it,” one fired employee, William Pass, told WGN-TV. “As of this point, for the loan that I borrowed this year, I paid over $2,700 back.”

The fired employees say Target was clawing back the money in the ballpark of $50 to $90 per paycheck.

“It’s not that I thought I was paying the loan back, I know I was paying the loan back,” Pass said. “I’ve got proof of it — on my paycheck stubs.”

And was he aware at all that we was participating in a large fraud scheme?

“No idea,” Pass said. “If I had a hint of it, you think I would have done it? I would’ve risked my job for that?”

But Pass wasn’t the only one. Two women, who wanted to stay anonymous, say they were wrongly accused of fraud as well.

“He just called us and told us that we were being let go for misconduct,” one woman said. “I literally do it every year and nothing ever happened. Now, this year all of a sudden it’s fraudulent? It doesn’t make sense to me at all.”

“We were terminated for fraudulent documents or misconduct. So I say, if I have proof that show my documentations aren’t fraudulent, will I be able to get my job back? And he was like, no determination still stands,” another woman said.

Current employees, meanwhile, say they were shocked to learn of the scheme. Target is now working to fill all the positions at a noticeable pace.

“I know they’re hiring extremely mad right now. Every Tuesday and Friday you see new classes and new faces, like every single day,” Target employee Matthew Clarke said. “They’re definitely paying enough to where you shouldn’t even have to worry about trying to steal.”

Target says it’s put measures in place to make sure this type of scheme doesn’t happen again. It also says the firings will not impact business operations.

Target has not gotten into any specifics on what its internal investigation found, only that the team members who were fired violated the company’s employee code of conduct.