[DickY]

Link http://www.wesh.com/news/24350016/detail.html

THE VILLAGES, Fla. --


Shawn Mussante, 23, was probably not the kind of waiter who would deserve a generous tip.
Mussante has been charged with grand theft, organized fraud and criminal use of personal information to defraud. He was arrested after detectives with the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office said they uncovered evidence that Mussante doctored receipts at his job at Cody’s Roadhouse Grill in The Villages.
"They would put in a tip amount, and then whether it was before or afterward, he would alter the tip amount once the client or the customer went and signed the receipt," said Detective William Smith with the Sumter County Sheriff's Office.
Investigators said Mussante added anywhere from $1 to $20 on the checks, eventually netting more than $700 in the alleged scheme.
Mussante declined a request to be interviewed while awaiting trial or bond in his jail cell at the Sumter County Jail. He is being held on $16,000 bond on a variety of felony charges.
Between April and June, detectives said Mussante changed the tip amounts on nearly 100 credit card charge slips.
Mussante was ultimately fired from the restaurant before the case evidence led to him. He was living in Maryland, but returned to Central Florida last week. He was arrested and ordered held on bond at his first court appearance.
Investigators said Mussante admitted he used extra money to satisfy an addiction to prescription pain killers.
Authorities said there may be more victims than they've discovered. The alleged scheme lasted three months, but investigators said Mussante worked at the restaurant for six months.

[redwitch]

Another reason to not add the tip to the charge card (and to check all charges to your card when the statement comes in, not just at time of signing).

[Larryandlinda]

Originally Posted by redwitch

Another reason to not add the tip to the charge card (and to check all charges to your card when the statement comes in, not just at time of signing).

Thanks for the Tip

L&L

[logdog]

If you don't add the tip to the charge card (and I don't see why you wouldn't want to), make sure you line out the tip line and write in the total amount. I failed to do that once and found out a very generous tip had been added to my bill after the fact.

[Kelsie52]

Originally Posted by logdog

If you don't add the tip to the charge card (and I don't see why you wouldn't want to), make sure you line out the tip line and write in the total amount. I failed to do that once and found out a very generous tip had been added to my bill after the fact.

some owners short the servers when the tip is on the charge card --because they have to pay a fee on a percentage of the charge --happend to my son when he use to be a waiter !!!!

[GatorFan]

I always leave the tip in cash. If you add to the credit card, server has to report 100% to IRS.

[gadaboutgal]

Altering the restaurant tip on a credit card charge is much more common than one might think. In fact, it is so common that I wonder why Channel 2 made such a big deal of it. (I formerly worked for 20 years with a major credit card company in their Dispute Resolution Department.)

[batman911]

GatorFan,

Surely you are not encouraging tip recipients to under report their income. I have been waiting for someone to stand up and take the bullet. I hope no one on this website thinks it has become fashionable to cheat our government. The colleges in Texas teach that honesty is always the best policy. Don't mean to be critical. Just had to say it.