Police say a customer service rep for Southwest Airlines at St. Louis Lambert International Airport printed ticket vouchers worth $79,000, which is theft.
An internal investigation by the airline found that Brooklyn Jones printed the vouchers “using past passengers’ names and redeemed them for himself,” according to a complaint from the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office that Business Insider received.
The complaint says that a Southwest investigator told the police that Jones had “confessed to these allegations in writing” and that he “was willing to give up” the vouchers he had.
It goes on to say that Jones led police to his locker and gave the airline’s detective 119 flight vouchers worth a total of $36,300.
Jones was then put in jail. According to the complaint, he told police that he “received money for the vouchers on 4 separate occasions” and printed vouchers worth a total of $79,000.
Police say they think Jones made the coupons between September 28, 2023, and August 1, 2023.
USA Today said that Jones has since pleaded not guilty to the crime.
In a statement, Jones’s lawyer Bert Fulk said that the accusations were based on a “probable cause statement that appears to rely heavily on third-party statements,” as reported by USA Today.
“We look forward to the discovery process and reserve the right to comment in the future upon receipt and review of the specific discovery in this matter,” he said.
When BI asked Southwest Airlines for a reaction, they said they would let local police handle it.
BI asked Jones’s lawyer for a comment, but he or she did not reply.
In 2023, another Southwest customer service rep was charged with fraud after federal officials said he made and sold fake travel vouchers worth about $1.9 million.
A federal court in Chicago has found that DaJuan Martin, who worked for the airline at Midway Airport in Chicago, “used fake customer names to fraudulently generate the vouchers without the airline’s knowledge or approval.”
As charged, Martin then sold the coupons, which are called “Southwest LUV Vouchers,” for less money in exchange for cash.
Lawyer for Martin Jonathan Bedi told BI in the past, “Mr. Martin is a wonderful family man with young children, and he is loved by everyone who knows him.”
“He is looking forward to his day in court,” he said.
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