Cops: Montco theft suspect ripped off QVC for 200G

QVC stands for Quality, Value and Convenience, but one employee took the acronym to a whole new level by conveniently stealing quality goods from the company and selling them for considerable value to a local pawn shop, police said.

Authorities allege that Jennifer John, 39, of Broomall, stole at least $200,000 worth of merchandise while working at the West Chester-based company's production studio between November and mid-January.

And she did it while being free on bail and awaiting trial for allegedly stealing more than $250,000 from her previous employer in Montgomery County, police said.

State Police Trooper Robert Kirby said he noticed John unloading large amounts of the same items of jewelry at a pawn shop at the Granite Run Mall in Middletown, Delaware County.

"It's common for us to look at a lot of pawn shops and look for anything we think is suspicious," he said.

Kirby could not pinpoint any burglaries or thefts that would explain the jewelry but eventually learned, through his investigation, that John was employed at QVC.

A loss-prevention specialist there told Kirby that the company was experiencing jewelry thefts. Officials at the home-shopping outfit identified the jewelry that John pawned as QVC property, according to the arrest affidavit.

The jewelry she had sold to the pawn shop in return for about $15,000 had a retail value of $75,000, the affidavit said.

When state police searched John's home, they discovered $13,000 in cash and "a lot" of additional stolen QVC goods totaling about $125,000, including jewelry, several laptop computers, wallets and more than 50 purses, Kirby said.

She has been in Delaware County Prison in lieu of $100,000 bail since her arrest on Feb. 4.

Meanwhile, Montgomery County prosecutors are attempting to revoke John's $2,500 bail on a June 2009 case because of her recent arrest. John is alleged to have embezzled more than $250,000 from a Lower Merion real-estate-management company where she worked as an accounts-payable clerk from 2003 into 2008, according to police.

A QVC spokeswoman declined to answer questions about the case or John, including how she came to be employed by the firm while awaiting trial on theft charges.