Associates Earn Loss Protection Awards for Saving Exchange More than $150,000 in 2020

Jeffrey Begun serves as a Criminal Investigation Division agent in the Army Reserves and did investigative work when he was on active duty.

He’s also a safety and security associate at the Joint Base Andrews Exchange, where he has saved the Exchange thousands of dollars by preventing shoplifting and employee theft.

Jeffrey Begun, a safety and security associate at the Joint Base Andrews Exchange, received two 2020 LP Productivity Awards, for preventing shoplifting and preventing employee theft. Begun also received an LP award in 2019.

“I like this job because it’s within the law-enforcement realm,” Begun said. “I’m helping the military community. I’m making sure we’re identifying anyone who may be doing harm to the military and getting them out of the pipe.”

Begun was one of 18 associates who won FY 2020 LP Productivity Awards for protecting Exchange earnings and keeping losses at a minimum. He was the only associate who won in two categories: He is credited with saving the Exchange $4,700 through apprehending 62 shoplifting subjects and saving $44,547 by preventing employee theft. Begun, who has been with the Exchange two years, also received an award for shoplifting prevention in FY 2019.

He and the other winners saved the Exchange more than $150,000 in losses from employee theft, customer shoplifting and unrecorded concession sales. They each received a gift card, a letter and a challenge coin from Steve Boyd, vice president of Loss Prevention, who praised their vigilance during the pandemic.

“Even within the face of all the challenges, they were very persistent,” Boyd said. “Because of their actions and their work, we were able to save a lot of money on the bottom line and live up to the Loss Prevention motto of ‘Maximize Earnings by Preventing Losses.’”

FY 2020 winners are:

Small Exchange

Employee Theft: Michael Holmes, Los Angeles Consolidated, two subjects involving $609

Shoplifting: Sara Ketelhut, Selfridge AFB, six subjects involving $3,668

Unrecorded concession sales: Rhondell McGuire, Fort Gordon, three subjects involving $73

Medium Exchange

Employee theft: Sigrid Jackson, Fort Polk, 12 subjects involving $21,000

Shoplifting: Venus Malay, Korea Central, shoplifting, 19 subjects involving $3,824

Unrecorded concession sales: Wendell Fabian, Fort Hamilton, five subjects involving $297

Large Exchange

Employee theft: Jeffrey Begun, Joint Base Andrews, seven subjects involving $44,547

Shoplifting: Jeffrey Begun, Joint Base Andrews, 62 subjects involving $4,709

Unrecorded concession sales: Shannon Gambill, Eglin AFB, two subjects involving $43,148

Mega Exchange

Employee theft: Travis Chambers, Fort Bragg, 12 subjects involving $9,939

Shoplifting: Maria Dolores Hoffman, Fort Bragg, 25 subjects involving $2,797

Unrecorded concession sales: David McKenzie, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, two subjects involving $7,375

Contingency Operations

Employee theft:  Pradeep Kumar, Kuwait, 10 subjects involving $4,217

Shoplifting: Alicia Coleman, Qatar, 19 subjects involving $3,926

Unrecorded concession sales: Johnathan King, eight subjects involving $556

Logistics

Cecilia Pereida, West Coast Distribution Center, for conducting 48 5-minute safety talks with 1,828 DC Associates, identifying 264 safety hazards, conducting 9,751 e-com spot checks and hundreds of vehicle inspections, among other safety and security duties.