Police say a man stole more than $42,000 in stamps from a Concord marketing firm where he previously worked.
The felony theft case against Stephen Shaw, 31, of Bucksport, Maine, is moving forward in Merrimack County Superior Court. Shaw recently waived his right to a probable cause hearing on one count of theft by unauthorized taking.
Concord police first learned about the theft at Concord Litho on Old Turnpike Road on July 31, after an employee realized stamps were missing from the company’s inventory, according to an affidavit. The firm had purchased the postage stamps in bulk from a Missouri company for a contracting job.
Multiple rolls of 5-cent and 10-cent stamps, totaling 450,000 in all, were reported stolen and some were later discovered for sale on eBay, the affidavit says. Police located one sale listing for 10,000 new, 10 cent stamps available for $1,000. The seller’s address was Rumford, Maine.
The Concord Litho employee who discovered the theft told police Shaw had just quit his job there and would have had access to the stamps.
As part of the investigation, police spoke with a buyer who said he purchased $9,000 worth of stamps from Shaw on eBay. Shaw reportedly told the buyer that he had inherited the stamps from his grandfather. But after the transaction was complete, Shaw later told the buyer he had found the stamps in a dumpster at work, according to the affidavit.
Shaw, previously of Concord, turned himself in to Concord police on an arrest warrant on Aug. 24. He was initially held at the Merrimack County jail in Boscawen for lack of $10,000 bail. A judge has since reduced his bail to $10,000 personal recognizance.
No further hearings in the case have been scheduled. The Merrimack County Attorney’s Office has approximately two months to present the case to a grand jury for indictment.
(Alyssa Dandrea can be reached at 369-3319, adandrea@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @_ADandrea.)