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A Starbucks Corp. employee and her husband were arrested Monday for investigation of theft after the coffee retailer accused them in a lawsuit of embezzling $3.7 million by creating a fake consulting firm.
Seattle police spokesman Clem Benton said Rosemary Heinen and her husband, Jerry, both 51, were arrested at 4:30 a.m. at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport as they returned on a flight. Port of Seattle police boarded the aircraft to arrest the couple.
The two were booked into the King County Jail, Benton said.
In a civil suit filed Friday in King County Superior Court, Starbucks said Mrs. Heinen worked as an application manager in the Information Technology Department, starting in November 1999.
She and her husband created RAD Consulting Services Inc., a fictitious business, and caused Starbucks to pay it more than $3.7 million for services that were not provided, the company's lawyers claimed in papers filed in court.
Starbucks also claimed that Mrs. Heinen forged a supervisor's signature to approve the payments.
The company is seeking triple damages in the case.
Starbucks spokesman Alan Gulick said loss of the $3.7 million did not adversely affect the company's financial statements or earnings.
Gulick would not comment further, steering reporters' questions to the company's lawyer. Starbucks attorney David Taylor did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
The Heinens were not immediately available for comment.
