Student arrested in alleged bookstore wage scam

Marvin Navakuku, 36, a former UA Associated Students Bookstore employee, stands accused of collecting $647.89 worth of wages by falsely completing time cards during the past four weeks, said Cpl. Jose Sprigg, a University of Arizona Police Department detective.

Navakuku would be apparently on-shift at the bookstore while he was actually in class or elsewhere, Sprigg added. Navakuku's apparent absence from work went unnoticed because he had been recently transferred between departments in the store, he said.

He would reportedly tell employees in varying departments that he was working in another area.

During the investigation, officers also found unpurchased T-shirts in Navakuku's personal locker at the store, Sgt. Sal Celi said.

Navakuku, of the 5300 block of East 22nd Street, was booked into and later released from Pima County Jail Tuesday on charges of fraudulent schemes and stolen property possession.

According to Celi, Navakuku, a business and public administration major, told officers he had not worked all of the hours for which he had been paid.

Bookstore employees apparently became suspicious after seeing Navakuku in the Fiddlee Fig restaurant Nov. 6 at 12:30 p.m., when his time card said he was working. Other employees reported seeing him clock in for work and then leave the store between Oct. 26 and 31, police reports stated.

According to police reports, bookstore officials checked with two of Navakuku's professors and discovered he had been present for a lab test and an in-class assignment during the same time he was allegedly clocked in at work.

Navakuku received two paychecks between Oct. 6 and Nov. 16 that amounted to 86.5 hours at $7.45 an hour, Sprigg said. He said a third check was held after the time-clock discrepancy came to light.

Bookstore director Frank Farias said the store hires temporary employees, like Navakuku, who sometimes remain on the active payroll in case of a shortage.

"It's not the first time it has happened," Farias said, adding that often problems with employees is handled through the UA's student code of conduct board. "It's an unfortunate part of our society and we just have to deal with it."

Because Navakuku's work included counting cash for the store, there was a need to press charges in this situation, Farias said.

"We don't take too kindly to that," he said.