Santa Ana police are looking for a man who is suspected of stealing more than $1 million worth of COVID tests from his employer.
Carlitos Peralta, 33, of Santa Ana, was a warehouse manager for the Covid Clinic located at 3401 W. MacArthur Blvd., according to an alert from the Santa Ana Police Department.
The business has seven warehouses nationwide and ships COVID tests to clinics, pop-up testing sites, schools, and hotels. Peralta had access to the Covid Clinic’s shipping and delivery system.
Authorities said Peralta rerouted nearly 100 separate shipments of “large amounts” of COVID tests to his residence. The total number of tests is unknown at this time, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Sgt. Maria Lopez, a police spokeswoman for the Santa Ana Police Department, told the Times that Peralta had rerouted one shipment to his home by putting a co-worker’s name down as the sender. That co-worker alerted their supervisors, who informed police, Lopez added.
Detectives attempted to arrest Peralta on Feb. 9 but were unable to find him, Lopez said. He remains at large.
A preliminary investigation found that Peralta started rerouting shipments on Dec. 30, Lopez told the Times. He continued the scheme until Feb. 7.
Police estimate the total value of the COVID tests is $1,000,575.
Anyone with information on Peralta’s whereabouts is asked to call Det. Rashad Wilson at (714) 245-8551 or email him at [email protected]
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