Fired Narcisi Winery employee accused of bilking $40K by discounting bills, pocketing difference

West Deer police accused a former employee of Narcisi Winery of stealing nearly $40,000 by applying a discount to patrons’ bills or voiding them altogether and pocketing the difference.

Kevin William Weis, 52, of the 2800 block of Middle Road in Hampton was charged by summons with felony counts of theft, theft by deception and receiving stolen property. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Feb. 1 before District Judge Tom Swan.

The owners of the winery along Gibsonia Road told police Weis had manager privileges that included approving the half-off discount workers get, as well as the authority to void checks.

They said Weis was able to steal the money when customers seated at his tables paid with cash.

Instead of putting the full amount in the cash drawer, Weis applied the 50% discount and kept half the money, investigators say. In some instances, bills from cash-paying customers were voided, with Weis keeping the entire amount, police said.

When company officials became suspicious and suspended the access code Weis needed to void a check or apply a discount, he used another employee’s code to get into the system, police said.

The employee told police she unwittingly gave Weis her four-digit code because he asked for it during a busy time when she was unable to handle the transactions herself, according to the complaint.

In some instances, Weis used the woman’s access code on days she wasn’t working, the complaint said.

Company officials said computerized records that show the number of guests at each server’s tables were compared against security video to determine discounts were being applied to the checks of people who were not employees, according to the complaint.

Police said Weis declined to discuss the accusations against him without his lawyer present when an officer tried to question him Dec. 7 at the winery.

But, before leaving, police said, Weis made comments to one of the winery’s owners in which he admitted to the thefts.

Police said one of the owners told Weis, who has worked for the company for more than 10 years, “Sorry that it came down to handling it this way.”

Weis responded that he did it because he had been demoted, and “the managers are lazy and never come out of the office,” according to the complaint, which noted Weis was terminated by the company.

Company officials said the money Weis stole during 2021 and last year totaled $38,216.