Fairfax County (Va.) school district employees accused of stealing nearly 35,000 laptops

Two Fairfax County (Va.) school district employees and a third man have been charged with stealing as many as 35,000 county-owned laptops, resulting in roughly $2 million in losses.

The Washington Post reports that Mario Jones Jr., 21, and Franque Minor II, 35, were charged with embezzlement and larceny with the intent to distribute, county police said Tuesday. Both men were school district employees who worked in a warehouse in Springfield, Va. Fadi Atiyeh, 36, of Centreville, was charged with receiving stolen property and larceny with the intent to distribute. Atiyeh was employed by Attyah Computer Recycling.

Authorities began investigating earlier this year when they were told that several thousand county school laptops were believed to have been illegally moved. The laptops were stored at a warehouse in Springfield and set to be auctioned.

Detectives discovered that laptops were being loaded into a truck on several occasions without the necessary paperwork to remove them. The truck was registered to Attyah Computer Recycling.

On July 14, police were watching the warehouse when the box truck arrived. After the truck left the warehouse with laptops, detectives pulled it over and discovered stolen laptops inside. A subsequent search of Attyah Computer Recycling found additional evidence, police said.