MOUNT AIRY, N.C. The North Carolina Attorney General’s office will prosecute eight former employees of Bassett Furniture Industries who are accused of stealing two (m) million dollars of furniture over seven years.


Bassett is based in Galax, Virginia.

An investigator in Surry County, North Carolina says the case was too complex for local prosecutors.

The defendants were among the best-paid employees of Bassett’s plant in Mount Airy and had worked for the company for more than 20 years.

Each of them was charged in November with seven felony counts of conspiracy to commit embezzlement in excess of 100 thousand dollars.

Authorities say they took one or two pieces of bedroom furniture, wardrobes and wooden tables at a time. They eventually stole enough to fill seven tractor-trailers. About 300 pieces of furniture have been recovered.

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Information from: Winston-Salem Journal, http://www.journalnow.com